Metronome
by RainbowMunchies
Summary: Metronome can do ANYTHING - even turn a Pokemon human! HumanFemale!PikachuxAsh Lemon later.
1. Poor Lil Pika

**Well hello there! Welcome to another RainbowMunchies creation! :D**

**Okay, I DO NOT OWN POKEMON. I'm not going to say it every chapter. :/**

**P.S. I realize that Pikachu is most likely a guy, but I have always thought of her as a girl or really I suppose asexual. The point is, I don't care. If you REALLY want to argue about it, let's just say this is AU where only ONE thing is different.**

**I hope you enjoi.**

**Metronome – Chapter 1  
****Poor Lil Pika**

"Jeesh Pikachu, I thought Mom was never going to let us leave!" Ash whined, walking along slowly with his hands behind his head. He was looking up at the clouds, but at this he turned his head to look down at his buddy.

"Piii pikachu," Pikachu agreed from the ground. She was trying to keep up with Ash but was having a little difficulty - even with the slow pace. Ash looked with indifference at Pikachu for a moment, not wanting to show how he really felt.

"Pikachu, you can feel free to ride on my shoulder if you want…" he trailed off as Pikachu shook her head, keeping her eyes forward and shifting her body down so she could use all four feet. This seemed to help her, and she fell into a somewhat easier rhythm with Ash.

Pikachu had taken to walking almost everywhere on her own since they had first arrived at Ash's house. Ash felt his mom was mostly to blame for that, having called Pikachu a, "cute little electric ball of fur" but then reminding Ash that he wasn't wandering through the forests anymore, and that Pikachu would have to behave in a manner more fitting to one who desired to remain an "inside pokemon." And so, ever since she had told Pikachu to, "eat on the floor with Mimey like a good little pokemon," Pikachu had been acting strangely. Ash felt bad that he hadn't spoken up in Pikachu's defense, but he was really in no position to argue with his mom. With Brock gone and Misty tending to her gym, he had needed all the help he could get preparing to set out on his own again. Messing things up with his mom wouldn't help him get out of there any faster, and it certainly wouldn't make her treat Pikachu any differently.

He returned to staring at the sky. A flock of pidgey went in and out of his view a long ways off. They were reaching the edge of Pallet Town, working their way towards Misty's gym to meet up with her. She had told Ash that her sisters would be back within the next two weeks, and that if he wanted to come up to Cerulean City they could join back up and become travel buddies again.

Ash had jumped at the idea.

His mom had not.

"At least when Brock was with you there was a bit of supervision, but now I have to worry day and night about you out there with that… that… hooch!"

Ash had nearly snapped at that, but had forced himself to stay cool and calmly explain to his mom that he and Misty were nothing but friends. He also had had to go into a lengthily spiel (quoting directly much of what Misty had told him the first time he himself had mentioned her lack of clothing) of how just because Misty dressed a little provocatively didn't mean she was a hooch or loose or anything of the sort. It was a shame that just because she looked good in shorts and a midriff top everyone assumed she was a hooch, and that looks are not the only thing you should take account for in a person. This hadn't quite convinced his mother, so he had gone for his back-up plan.

"Well what about when you were a biker chick? Did it make you happy to think that people considered you scum just because of how you dressed?"

That had shut her up. She had given him a look of anger, but it was obvious she understood. The conversation hadn't come up again, but Ash could tell she still disapproved. He and Pikachu had stayed there for what had seemed like the longest two weeks of their lives. Pikachu had taken to being very unsociable, keeping to herself and avoiding both Ash and his mother. Many times Ash had searched everywhere for Pikachu, finally finding her out back in the garden, staring off into the distance from the top of their apple tree.

So it was with happy hearts that they had set out in the early morning – but not without being peppered with hugs and kisses from his mother, and a backpack full of (Ash hoped - he hadn't checked it himself in his rush to leave) foodstuffs and everyday supplies to last them until they reached Pewter. He'd restock there before they headed into the caves of Mount Moon. Professor Oak had come to see them off, and Ash was happy to hear his other pokemon were doing just fine under Oak's care.

"Take care Ash," Oak had said, softly petting Pikachu, who (in one of her rarer moments of being sociable within the last two weeks) had jumped into Oak's arms to bid him farewell. "I feel as if you're in for something amazing this trip. I'm not quite sure what, but knowing you it will be nothing less than monumental."

"Let's just hope I don't have to save the world again," Ash had joked. He had gotten a hearty laugh out of Oak, and a worried look from his mother.

One more hug for his mother and they were off, headed in a beedrill-line towards the Viridian Forest. Ash had hoped to reach the forest by midday so they could make it out before nightfall, but at the rate Pikachu was going it looked like they wouldn't be there until tomorrow morning. Pikachu had always ridden on his shoulders before. It was ridiculous that they were going to be held up because he refused to acknowledge that Pikachu was upset.

Ash hated talking about his feelings. He was a guy after all; he had an image to uphold. But this wasn't just anyone, he reminded himself, this was Pikachu. Ash needed to suck it up and talk it out with her. On that thought Ash stopped suddenly, taking Pikachu – who had been in a sort of walking trance- by surprise. She skidded to a halt two feet away and then backtracked to where Ash was standing.

"Pi?" She questioned Ash, her head tilting slightly in a classic expression of confusion.

Ash knelt down level with Pikachu. A serious look had taken over his face, and the words he spoke dripped with concern.

"Pikachu, don't you want to ride on my shoulder?"

Pikachu looked perplexed. One ear twitched in confusion. She was doing fine walking, wasn't she? She had tried her best to keep up with Ash. No, of course she didn't want to ride on Ash's shoulder. That's what "uncivilized" pokemon did. She shook her head hard, her ears whipping back and forth.

"Pikachu, did something my mom said upset you? You know you're my pal right? Not just my pokemon."

Pikachu became visibly upset at this. Her eyes misted a bit and her ears went down and back. She let out a soft, "Piiiiiii." Ash's eyes softened. So it was something his mom had said that was bothering her. Poor Pikachu! Thanks to his mom Pikachu probably thought Ash hated her for being a filthy pokemon or something. Ash felt awful.

"Pikachu, you know that I think you're great right? You're perfect just the way you are. My mom has always been weird towards the idea of treating pokemon as equals. Oh sure, she acts nice enough to 'em, but do you think Mimey does all that work because it wants to? Heck no. My mom gives it all those chores to do – she's just lucky Mimey doesn't mind doing them."

Pikachu looked up at Ash. Her eyes were brimming with tears. A single drop broke loose and slid down her face. Her small black eyes were shining in the morning sun. Ash reached down and used the ball of his thumb to wipe the teardrop from Pikachu's bright-red cheek. The fur was soft from hours of grooming. He pet her softly, reaching his fingers around to massage the back of her neck. Pikachu leaned into Ash's hand, closing her eyes softly and parting her lips. More tears fell from her closed eyes, and Ash felt as if his heart was about to break.

"Pikachu, I love you okay? I love you exactly how you are, and if you make me say that again I'll slug ya alright?" With that he brought his hand to the top of Pikachu's head and mussed her fur.

Pikachu's eyes opened to reveal shimmering spheres of onyx. One ear popped up happily, the other twitched under Ash's hand. A smile lit up her face and small sparks appeared at her rosy cheeks.

"Ka!"

"Alright then, hop on!"

Ash jumped up and held out his arm, and Pikachu flew up it quick as a bullet. She reached his shoulder and proceeded to rub her cheek against Ash's, letting off little shocks that tickled his nose.

"Cut it out Pikachu!" Ash giggled, bringing his hands up to pet her. "That tickles!"

She straightened up, taking her customary position on Ash's shoulder – her tiny front paws resting gently on the top of his hat. Ash's hands dropped down by his side. He adjusted himself, straightening his coat and hitching up his pants. A determined smile lit up his face.

"We better get going," Ash said, beginning to walk at a much faster pace than before. "If we don't get to Cerulean City by next week Misty is gonna kill us for making her hang out with her sisters any longer than she has to."

"Pika!" the happy pokemon agreed, bouncing gently on Ash's shoulder.

They hit the start of Route 1 within a half hour and trudged on towards Viridian Forest.


	2. Berries, a Dress, and Team Rocket

Metronome - Chapter 2

Route 1 is an idiot proof path. You just follow it along and try not to trip over any rocks. It's impossible to get into any trouble.

Of course with Ash and Pikachu, trouble was never far away – it had a way of relentlessly pursuing them.

At the moment however the duo was chilling in the grass, digging through the backpack Ash's mom had prepared for them.

"Ah sweet. Pikachu look!" Ash cried happily, "Mom packed us some berries. Ya want some?"

"Kaaa," Pikachu answered, closing her eyes happily and nodding with gusto. Berries were one of her favorite treats.

Ash handed her a small bunch and took a bigger one for himself. He popped a berry in his mouth, set the baggie next to him, and continued to shuffle through the bag.

Ash saw his own change of clothes situated at the bottom of the backpack, but was taken aback upon spying something else –a _pink _something else.

He shifted his weight and sat up on his knees, pulling the length of cloth out of the bag slowly.

It was a dress. And not _just _a dress –it was a _really_ _nice_ dress. Ash was a guy, and even he thought this dress was adorable.

A soft cotton fabric, it held a soft pink hue and shone brilliantly in the midday sun. Ash looked closer and saw small white star designs randomly peppered among the pink. The bottom of the dress ended in gentle ruffles and Ash ran his hand along them, feeling the soft cotton slide along his fingers. The top sported a deep but not too risqué v-neck and delicate spaghetti straps.

"What the hell?"

Pikachu was looking up at the dress now too. Her black eyes were thoughtful as she munched a berry. One ear went up in question, and the hand not holding berries reached out unconsciously in desire to touch the fabric.

Then Ash noticed the note safety-pinned to the dress. It read:

"I'm so sorry about our tiff over Misty. It just makes me so sad to think my little Ash is growing up. I thought about what you said, and figured that maybe I would feel better if Misty could look great in clothes that weren't quite so revealing. I made this dress for her after our argument to show that I have no hard feelings toward her. I hope she likes it, and I hope you know that I love you and miss you when you're gone. Love, Momma"

"Oh brother!" Ash groaned, rolling his eyes. This was sickeningly sweet. Misty was going to faint when she saw this dress – any girl would.

"Pikachu, why am I always caught up in things like this?"

She merely shrugged, finishing off her last berry and hopping up. She sauntered over and began putting things back in the backpack. Ash got the message.

"Yea, I guess you're right, we better get going," he said, giving Pikachu a little grin, "All your moping earlier got us off to a slow start."

Pikachu gave Ash a huffy look that sent a shock to his system.

Eyes narrowed, red cheeks puffed and lips puckered, Pikachu threw down the sandwich she had been packing and strutted off to watch from the trees while Ash finished packing.

Ash laughed and went about stuffing the rest of their stuff in the backpack with a smile on his lips.

"Jeesh," Ash thought as he zipped up the pack, "what a drama queen."

With that he turned to Pikachu.

"You coming girly?"

Pikachu stuck her tongue out at Ash, her eyes clamping shut and nose crinkling. Her paws went to the sides of her face to wiggle her little fingers at him.

Ash laughed at the silly gesture and Pikachu returned the laugh with a tiny smile before bounding over and leaping up to her spot in the crook of Ash's neck.

They started off towards Viridian Forest, happy to have each other for company.

Meanwhile, from the trees not far off, Team Rocket took turns peering through a set of binoculars and thinking how happy they'd be if _they_ had Pikachu right now-period.

"Can ya believe dis?" Meowth grumbled softly to the other two, "For an enti-ya fort-nyait we've been lookin for dis kid up in Cinnabar, and he's been livin da good life, snug as a bug at home."

"Well at least we finally found the older twerp," Jesse replied happily, "We might've been on that damn island forever if he hadn't given us a lead…"

Brock had stayed back with the scientists at the Pokemon Lab on the Cinnabar Islands.

The scientists were hoping to successfully mate a ditto with a kabuto they had managed to resurrect from a Dome Fossil, and after meeting Brock and learning of his extensive knowledge in the breeding of pokemon, they had begged him to stay.

He was not only in charge of looking over the breeding, but for the care of the precious kabuto as well. If all went as planned, he would be a key player in resurrecting an entire species of extinct pokemon.

Team Rocket had lost Ash and Brock in the Seafoam Islands, but knew the only way to go from there was to Cinnabar. They had searched for an entire week and a half before finally finding a solo Brock overseeing care of the precious kabuto.

They had been tempted to go after the kabuto, but recently had decided that their one and only goal should be Pikachu. Too many failed attempts had left them feeling like maybe they had been going for more than they could handle.

The goal had been decided – get _Pikachu_, and _only_ Pikachu.

Of course, they couldn't have just wandered up to Brock and demanded to know where Ash was.

No, it was time for the old Team Rocket finesse.

So as per usual they dressed up in ridiculous disguises.

Jesse had been a slightly older woman with an eye-popping scarf hiding her signature hair and a gaudy dress destroying her curvy figure. Meowth had taken on the disguise of a small child with overalls and a baseball cap to cover his face and ears.

And James, for some odd reason, had chosen to dress as an old man with a graying beard, a dirty kimono, wooden geta, and a large straw hat.

Jesse and Meowth hadn't argued with him. Whatever floated James boat-- as long as he didn't give them away he could dress like a mudkip for all they cared.

After easily convincing Brock they were common-folk extremely interested in the neat new pokemon (many of the residents and travelers to Cinnabar were eager to view the Lab's one and only attraction), Jesse had laid the trap.

"Haven't we met before?" she had nonchalantly inquired Brock, careful to disguise her voice.

"I do seem to remember you from somewhere," Brock had replied, squinting his eyes in an effort to remember.

"Yes, yes," Jesse continued her ruse, "I think we met back in Celadon City? You were traveling with a girl and a boy and a… a Pikachu I think?"

"Yea!" Brock had rejoined with a smiled. He truly missed his friends and was happy to have them mentioned.

"Why, where are they? It seems like you're here all alone."

The bait had been set. The trio leaned forward expectantly, ears seeming to grow as the information they yearned for grew ever closer.

"Well, Misty-- that's the girl-- she's back at her family gym. Sometimes her sisters go on tours with their underwater diving show and ask her to come watch the gym for them."

A smile grew on Brock's face as he reminisced," You would love the underwater diving shows, they do all sorts of underwater acrobatics with their water pokemon, and dress up in all sorts of colorful costumes."

Team Rocket was becoming visibly annoyed. Three sets of eyes narrowed on an oblivious Brock.

"And her sisters are so cute! One has blue hai-"

"What about the boy?" Jesse practically shouted at Brock, interrupting him mid-sentence. She was losing her patience, as were the male members of the team.

Brock looked taken aback a moment, then plunged on, still happy to have the opportunity to talk about his pals after so long.

"Oh, well Ash went back home to Pallet Town about two weeks ago. I actually talked to him the other day. He's planning on meeting up with Misty again in a few days over in Cerulean City. I've been so busy here; it feels like the days have flown by."

But the latter of his sentence had fallen on deaf ears. When he had snapped out of his babbling, Brock had looked up to find he was alone with a hungry kabuto.

Team Rocket had gotten their junk together as quickly as possible and stolen away on a ship headed from Cinnabar to Pallet Town. After landing on shore, exhausted from hours of stowing away in cramped barrels, the team had decided to camp out for the night. The next morning they had wandered into Pallet Town to find the twerp departing on his journey, and now here they were-- hiding in the trees eying their furry prize.

"That Pikachu's as good as ours now," James chirped happily as his turn came round to use the binoculars, "They don't even know we're here!"

Jesse sat up on her branch, one hand settled on her hip and the other pointed towards the sky.

"With the element of surprise on our side, we'll nab that rodent and make the boss proud of us again," she declared and began to laugh heartily in a somewhat high-pitched frequency.

The boys covered their ears to block out the awful noise. Their faces took on the look of pure misery.

"What's she mean, '_again_'?" Meowth mumbled to himself as he took the binoculars back from a cringing James.

* * *

**a/n: Ugh, I hate doing flashbacks, but it had to be done! Now you know where that idiot Brock is, Team Rocket has been acknowledge, a secret surprise has been shown for later on *keh keh keh* and I can move on to the luvvy-duvvy stuff!!!**


	3. Tripping Up

Metronome - Chapter 3

Ash and Pikachu reached the forest in high spirits. They had made good time after the mini-picnic and Ash felt they still had enough time to make it a safe distance in before nightfall.

"Hey Pikachu, maybe I could catch another caterpie," Ash said joyfully, "I really miss having a bug pokemon around."

Pikachu pouted. She was happy having Ash all to herself right now. When they had gotten back to Pallet Town he had dropped the others all off with Oak, saying he wanted a fresh start with his best bud and first starter pokemon.

At that point and time Pikachu had been in a sort of daze. Ash's awful mother had been forcing him to treat Pikachu like she was a wild rattata, and it had really bugged her.

She knew Ash couldn't argue with his mother-- it wasn't fair for Pikachu to have expected him to-- but it had killed her to not be able to leap on his shoulder and kiss his face or groom the tufts of hair on the back of his neck.

She had become so used to the feel of his soft black hair in her paws, of the salty taste of his skin, of the warmth of the crook of his neck- it had shut off something inside of her to be separated from these things.

She didn't remember much from that time, but it felt as though something had reverted inside of her. The ache in her heart had become a dull throb as she let her instincts take over and her thoughts and emotions went unheeded.

Often times she had gone into trances. It was almost like she was on pikachu-auto-pilot. She would hop around the yard, nibbling on fallen berries and flower buds, and snap out of it to find herself sitting at the top of the tree in the backyard, streams of tears quietly running down her face.

Pikachu had snapped out of one particular trance to find she had followed Ash on foot to the Professor's house. She was surprised to see Ash handing over all his pokeballs, which Oak had set gently to the side.

When Oak had asked Ash if he was sure about his decision, Ash had confidently said, "I want to start off fresh Professor. I'm not worried. Pikachu and I will be fine together, she's the best there is."

Ash had grinned down at Pikachu to see if she had heard the compliment, but Pikachu had returned a blank look. Her eyes drifted over his face, his hair, his neck. She turned slowly and started home, knowing that dinner would be waiting for her in the silver bowl on the floor.

Nevertheless, Pikachu was happy now having Ash all to her own, and that was how she wanted it to stay. She leaned down and bit the lobe of Ash's ear playfully.

"Pikachuuuu," Ash whined, feigning pain, "Staaaawp. Not here okay? I don't want to show the wild pokemon signs of weakness in our team."

She grinned around his ear and gave him one last nip before sitting up, placing her paws on Ash's hat. A smile grew on her face as her eyes took on the determined look of a pokemon ready for a challenge, ears pulling back slightly to add to her tough look.

Ash gained a smile and a determined look in his eyes as well. His walking took on more of a strut as he did his best to show what a great trainer he was.

Team Rocket followed behind, slipping in and out of the scarce trees and earth that lined the route. They were excited to enter the forest, as more cover meant less work in concealing themselves. For now they stayed scrunched together behind a boulder, Jesse and James shoulder to shoulder with Meowth peering over their backs.

Ash entered the forest and plunged ahead.

That is, until he tripped over a rock.

Ash's foot barely caught the stone, but it tripped him up nonetheless. As he went facedown towards the ground, Pikachu made a graceful leap off his back and landing a little ways off.

Ash landed hard and Team Rocket, hiding in the cover of the trees, covered their mouths quickly in a barely successful effort to stop their laughter. Their eyes watered and their cheeks grew a deep red.

Lucky for them, Ash was too busy rubbing his nose, and staring at the flock of pidgeotto he had disrupted flying off into the forest, to notice the noise.

Ash sat up indian-style and continued to rub his aching nose. Pikachu walked over and sat in Ash's lap, a concerned look taking over her features. She looked up at his face, leaning the back of her head against his chest.

"Piiiikaaa," she murmured, reaching her paws upward. Ash took his hand away from his nose, grimacing, and brought it down to rub Pikachu's belly softly. He leaned his face down slowly towards Pikachu's own.

"Does it look bad Pikachu?" he said, a small frown on his lips.

She pretended to survey the damage, one paw reaching up to touch his cheek, moving slowly across his face.

A look of fascination overtook Pikachu's face as she became more enveloped in what she was doing. Ash felt little fingers slide up across his upper lip, and smiled as they tickled his skin.

Pikachu looked into Ash's eyes, mesmerized. Her paw ran along the curve of his face, down to Ash's chin, and finally up to his nose. She rubbed it gently, watching the hurt red skin fade back to the regular tan hue of Ash's face.

Slowly she brought her head up higher, turning in Ash's lap to face him. Her tiny chest leaned against his.

Ash's hand had stopped moving and rested gently now on Pikachu's back; the other lay behind his own back, propping him up. He smiled down at the creature in his lap, the sunlight warming them both.

He could feel his Pikachu's tiny heartbeat in the silence. It outpaced Ash's own by leaps and bounds, and he could feel his own heart picking up the pace in an effort to sync with its smaller twin.

Ash unconsciously sped up his breathing. His eyes locked with Pikachu's. His fingers moved slowly against her fur, feeling the silk against the tips.

They sat like that a moment longer, their faces inches apart.

Pikachu was entranced by Ash. The feel of his skin was so soft, so much like her fur, but more solid to the touch. His breath still smelt of the sweet berries from earlier. His hat sat sideways on his head, knocked askew from the tumble, and chunks of black hair hung in his face. His smile surrounded her, his scent engulfed her.

Pikachu brought her paw down slowly, her face staying put.

What was this?

Pikachu couldn't stop herself. She pushed her body up and licked Ash's nose in one exhilarating motion.

Ash blushed crimson, making an odd surprised face, and bringing his hands up to his nose, whilst Pikachu hopped swiftly off his lap and stood shaking a few feet away. If her cheeks hadn't already been red, they would've lit up the forest.

Right now however, to her great embarrassment, small sparks played around the red spots and lit up the shadows in the trees.

Ash composed his face behind his hands, but his eyes still screamed, 'what the hell?'

He stood up slowly, lowering his hands to his sides.

Ash looked at Pikachu with curiosity. She was sitting up, looking down and to the right, a scowl of annoyance on her face, ears laid back against her head. Sparks danced around her face. Her breathing was heavy and Ash could see her paws formed into small fists. Her tail twitched back and forth in half-time with her breathing.

She stood there for a long minute as her breathing slowed. The sparks grew smaller and smaller before finally stopping altogether. Her paws unclenched. Her face smoothed into one of indifference. Her ears rose slowly.

Ash had this time to consider what had just happened. Pikachu had licked his face plenty of times, but something about this had upset her.

He thought of how his heart had sped up as he stared into her eyes. He thought of his own reaction to her "kiss.'

Ash shook his head hard. Pikachu was a _pokemon_.

He loved Pikachu. He loved Pikachu _as a pokemon_. He loved Pikachu as a _friend_.

What was this he was feeling?

When he had seen Pikachu making an effort to compose herself, he had quickly made a final decision. Unless Pikachu brought this up again, in whatever way she did, he would pretend it never happened. He would push aside this confusing feeling he felt. It was a simple solution, and he was all for it.

Pikachu stared at the ground, completely at ease now but not moving.

Ash looked at her, a smile forcing its way to his lips.

"That bad, eh?"

Pikachu looked up at the words, whirling her head towards him; her eyes shown confusion. One ear came down, the other twitched as if to catch the rest of whatever Ash was getting at.

Ash worked to make his smile more genuine for Pikachu's sake.

"It's fine Pikachu. It doesn't hurt anymore. C'mon, we really do have to keep going. I know I keep saying that, but Misty's going to have our heads if we don't get there on time. If we don't start walking we'll never get there and if we never get there…"

He trailed off, realizing he was babbling.

Ash walked over to Pikachu and leaned down. Her arms went up like a newborn child and he gently lifted and placed her on his shoulder.

Pikachu went willingly enough, and splayed her body gently across the top of Ash's head. Her arms and head hung over one side of the hat, while her back end remained seated on Ash's shoulder. Her eyes dulled as her thoughts took over.

They moved on silently- Pikachu deep in thought and Ash for once in his life unable to think of anything to say.

Team Rocket stood hidden in the woods. Looks of confusion covered the human member's faces.

"Ummm," James directed at Meowth, a hand coming up to rub his own chin, "Did the brat and his pikachu just have a moment?"

Meowth looked dumbfounded. His mouth was opened a bit and his ears sat up straight on his head. His paws rested heavily on the tree in front of him, seeming to support all his weight. His tail hung limp.

"Meowth?" Jesse said, leaning down to wave her hand in front of the feline's face, "You there? What the heck was that?"

"Th-th-th-…" he began.

"Yes?" Jesse and James peeped in unison.

"Th-th-th-that… was da most touchin' thing I've eva seen!" he declared, turning his face to cry into the crook of one arm. His ears laid back and a stream of tears rushed from his eyes.

Jesse and James looked at each other in confusion. Was that a yes?

* * *

**a/n: It was so fluffy ^///^**

**Hope you loved this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. C:**


	4. Cleffa Clefable and a Sneak Attack

Metronome - Chapter 4

Once Meowth had collected himself he would speak no more of what he had just seen, despite Jesse and James' demands.

Meowth knew how Pikachu felt. Cassandra had made him feel that way too, and he would never forget it-- knowing with every fiber of your being that the love is wrong, but wanting to do anything for the human who had stolen your heart.

Yes, Meowth knew.

He also knew that Pikachu wasn't stupid; there was no doubt in his mind that she knew there was no way it would ever pan out. No way that a pokemon and a human could be anything but friends.

Meowth had learned that lesson the hard way. To Cassandra he had just been another pokemon, just as good as a stray persian in the back alley.

And so he zipped his lips. There was no way he could explain this to Jesse and James. They'd call him nuts. Besides, he felt as though Pikachu was a kindred spirit now, and violating what essentially made them equal was not something Meowth felt he had the right to do.

"C'mon. Were gonna lose em' again if we don hurry up," was all he said, turning away and starting towards where Ash and Pikachu had disappeared into the woods.

This terminated any chance of Jesse and James continuing their interrogation of Meowth, and so with one last shrug at eachother, they followed him through the trees.

Ash, Pikachu, and Team Rocket continued through the woods at a steady pace.

When sunset came Ash spoke for the first time in hours.

"I think we better set up camp here for the night," he said, lifting Pikachu off his shoulder gently and setting her down on the ground.

She settled on her hind legs, and Ash was relieved to see a smile light up her face as she nodded in agreement.

He smiled back at her genuinely; glad to have his buddy back.

"You hungry?" he said, sliding off his backpack and tossing it to the ground.

"Piiiiikaaaaa!"

Pikachu's nods became more exaggerated; her ears flopping forward and back over her head. Her paws bounced lightly against her stomach. She came forward one final time and then rolled backwards, landing on her back and rolling around happily in the soft dirt of the forest.

Ash laughed and sat down across from her, unzipping his bag and pulling out a sandwich, a water bottle, and a bag of cookies. One cookie each was distributed. He broke off bits of the sandwich for her and took bites for himself. Once they had finished he pulled out another sandwich and repeated the process.

The water bottle was filled with fresh water, and whenever Pikachu wanted some she reached up so Ash could place the bottle in her paws.

Ash loved to watch her drink. When they had first started traveling she had insisted on drinking out of a bottle, not wanting to bother with setting out a bowl for her to drink from every time they stopped. At first she had dumped half the water down her chest, but as she kept at it Pikachu had mastered the balancing act of the liquid weight of the bottle.

It was unorthodox, but it was also adorable.

She sat the bottle in her lap and braced herself. Gripping either side, she lifted the bottle up, placing the lip on the edge of her mouth and letting the water slowly flow down. She would sip this until she was satisfied, and then lower the bottle back into her lap for Ash to take away.

Ash smiled, taking another bite of the sandwich. He decided then that he was happy he had left the others with Oak, it was nice to be alone with his friend.

While they ate they chatted happily (well, Ash chatted, Pikachu mostly just agreeing or disagreeing with nods and her signature word), about past battles and how happy they were to be on the trail again.

Once they had eaten Ash set up a small fire and laid out his sleeping bag. By then the sun had gone down and the moon had risen.

"Wow Pikachu," Ash said, lying on the outside of his sleeping bag with his hat off and his hands behind his head, staring at the sky, "Check out the full moon. It reminds me of little Togepi."

Pikachu lay on her back, her body perpendicular to Ash's. Her head rested on the side of his chest as she too peered at the stars. She yawned loudly in response to Ash, her mouth opening wide and showing her white teeth gleaming in the moonlight.

He reached his hand over his chest and petted her head absentmindedly, continuing to look up. The moon gave the forest a dull glow.

In the trees and grass the rustling noises of pidgey hopping about in preparation for sleep could be heard.

The outlines of kakuna and metapod swung gently among the trees, suspended by threads of silk deftly spun before evolution. Others clung to the tree trunks, unafraid of sleep thanks to their hardened shells, eagerly awaiting the completion of their metamorphosis.

In the grass caterpie and weedle could be found sleeping soundly, dreaming of the day when they too would join their sisters and brothers in the trees, and finally in the skies.

To the east of where the duo lay, a gang of pikachu was settling in for the night, hunkering down in their beds constructed of leaves and twigs, nestled securely in the crooks of the tree branches.

Ash looked down at Pikachu, who continued to stare at the sky. His hand rubbed the top of her head gently, feeling the soft fur shift under his naked skin. He ran his fingers up her ear, smiling as she let out another yawn and her eyelids slowly lowered.

"C'mon, let's get to bed," he said, sitting up and lifting Pikachu by her midsection. With the other he pulled back the sleeping bag, balancing Pikachu like a pizza. After kicking off his shoes and throwing sand on the practically dead fire, he slipped himself into the bag and pulled the sleepy pikachu in after him.

Pikachu reached up sleepily and gave Ash a quick lick on the cheek, then nestled herself down into the bag to curl herself against his chest. Ash's arms went around her securely.

It was a familiar position for them, and they had not realized how much they missed it in the last two weeks until now.

Ash smiled, closing his eyes and holding his best friend to his chest. Pikachu drifted into sleep, lulled by the beating of Ash's heart against her cheek.

"Aw drat," Jesse grumbled from the trees. James and Meowth sat on the ground beside her, exhausted from their day of pursuit, "We should have known the twerp would sleep with his _precious Pikachu_."

Her nose wrinkled, as if sleeping with a filthy pokemon was the last this she wanted to do.

"Jesse," James whined from the ground, "How're we going to get Pikachu without waking Ash? He'll be up in half a second once we wrench Pikachu from his arms."

"More importantly, waddya gonna do when Pikachu wakes an' fines herself in yer greasy mitts?"

Meowth had a point. James, who obviously had no clue how to answer Meowth, turned to look at Jesse, who sighed in exasperation. She reached into their bag.

"Do I have to do all the thinking around here?" she moaned, pulling out a pair of rubber gloves.

The boys grinned evilly at her, and Jessie responded with a tiny laugh that grew loud quickly in the quiet night. The guys chuckled along with her.

In the bushes a little ways off from the cackling trio, a cleffa sat silently shivering in the night air. In her paws a precious stone glittered in the moonlight. She held it close to her body and waited for her mother to come. She had to wait; her mother had told her to.

So she sat, hungry and scared, waiting for her mother to come back.

Her mother had been gone for two hours at the least now, gathering food for the both of them, and had left Cleffa in charge of the Moon Stone.

"We must," she thought, "return this stone to where it belongs. So much will go wrong if we don't. There is so much at stake-- Papa's life, the lives of our family, the fate of our world…"

Her eyelids felt so heavy. Her stubby brown ears twitched slightly, her head began to lower, her chin touched her chest, and she fell into a light doze. She continued to clutch the stone to herself, knowing even in her unconscious state that it meant the world to her right now.

Moonlight streamed down on Cleffa's face, forming a shadow beneath her. She dreamt of her mother and father, and the life she wished they had.

Cleffa's mother was meanwhile engaged in a run for her life. After gathering enough leaves and berries to feed her child and herself, she had slipped hopping through the trees and fallen into a beedrill hive, destroying half the structure and taking out several kakuna in the act of prying herself out.

She cursed her useless wings. They were the only thing she had hated about evolving. She had enjoyed gaining a larger body and greater strength, but all the wings ever did were knock things over and get caught up in branches.

And now they had seriously pissed off some beedrill.

Clefable darted through the trees, panting. She felt a twang of annoyance as she realized poor Cleffa was off starving somewhere, and she had no food to offer her now after dropping it all in the fall.

"Well screw this," she thought, "I didn't train all that time to run!"

She stopped short on a limb and quickly hopped down a few branches. The beedrill sped over her head and skidded to a stop in the air. Clefable prepped herself for the attack, shifting her feet to get a better stance.

The full moon left plenty of light for her to see by. There were about six beedrill staring her down, ready to kill her for what she had done. That was twelve razor sharp needles, ready to pierce her throat, to tear out her lungs, to make mincemeat of her liver.

Her eyes narrowed, her arms went out to balance her.

The beedrill advanced, and Clefable Bounced off the branch, flying into the night sky.

The beedrill hadn't expected this, and Clefable was able to take one out immediately by landing on his head. She came down hard, her feet slamming into the thick skull. A loud crack sounded over the beating of wings, and Clefable pushed off to land back on the branches.

The beedrill plummeted to earth, its comrades staring after it.

"_Leave me alone!"_ Clefable shouted at them in pokemon, _"Go away and I will leave this place peacefully."_

The beedrill didn't listen. They were enraged now. Two came at her at once, attempting to inflict damage with Fury Attacks.

Clefable used Minimize quickly, shrinking down among the leaves. She thought for a minute of her childhood; this was what it had felt like to be a little cleffa.

Cleffa. Her daughter. She had to return to her.

Clefable ran out to the smaller branches which could now support her weight. She charged herself up and felt a familiar chill run up her arms. Her paws frosted over, forming blocks of ice.

She leapt up, increasing in size instantly, and brought her frozen fists down on two confused beedrill. This time she saw their skulls crack. The exoskeletons froze instantly under her before shattering.

Bits of frozen skull and blood flew everywhere. A chunk of pulpy brain hit one of the watching beedrill, and he screeched a high pitched buzz, flying away as fast as possible in the direction of the hive.

The two remaining beedrill once again watched their comrades fall to earth. They hit the ground with a loud, '_thump_,' twitching crazily before finally becoming still.

Clefable had landed in the tree, panting heavily. Her paws were ice free, but flecks of blood covered her pink body.

"_I did not want to kill them,"_ she admitted sadly, _"But I must get back to my child. If you intend to attack me as well, I cannot be held responsible for what happens."_

The beedrill were silent for a time, hovering in the air and staring down at the bodies of their kin.

"_No… no we will not attack you again. We are not idiots."_ One of the beedrill finally buzzed. He appeared older than the others, and did not turn from looking at the bodies that now littered the ground. His own body, however, shook with fury. This clefable had just killed half his evolved brothers.

"_But if we see you or your family ever again, **we will kill you**."_

The venom in his voice sent chills up Clefable's spine. The younger beedrill turned to her, tears in his segmented eyes. His father had just been murdered by this clefable.

"**_Go_**_,"_ he hissed. There was nothing else he could do. It was obvious she could not be defeated by any of them. She was strong.

Clefable turned with tears in her eyes and ran. She hated to have had to kill, but she had to return to Cleffa; food or no. She felt as if something even more terrible was about to happen.

Back at Ash and Pikachu's camp, Team Rocket was standing quietly next to the sleeping bag. Ash snored softly. The black tips of Pikachu's ears poked out of the top of the bag, but the rest was wrapped up in Ash's arms.

Meowth frowned. Jesse pouted, arms crossed. James scratched his head.

What the heck were they supposed to do now?

"I'm gonna try somethin'," Meowth finally whispered. He leaned down and tickled Ash's cheek with his paw. The teen wrinkled his nose, trying to ignore the itch.

"Ugh, nyaaaa," Ash mumbled. He brought one arm out of the bag and rubbed his hand across his face. The arm stayed out of the bag, splaying out on top; the other remained in the bag, clutching an unconscious Pikachu.

Jesse and James jumped quietly, cheering Meowth on. The sly pokemon leaned forward and looked into the bag. Pikachu was cuddled up against Ash's chest, breathing lightly. A smile sat on her lips, even in sleep.

"Jeesh," Meowth thought, "she's got it bad for this dork."

Meowth _very _slowly unzipped the bag, keeping it closed atop the two. Once that was done he began to deftly pry back the cover, slowly revealing a sleeping Pikachu.

He had to do this quickly.

Gently, with all the patience he could muster, Meowth grabbed Ash's fingers and pulled them away from Pikachu's sleeping body. His eyes shifted back and forth between Ash's sleeping face and moving hand.

He didn't notice Pikachu turn from her sleep until a moment too late.

But Jesse did. She reached forward with the gloves, grabbing Pikachu just as Meowth lifted Ash's arm. One hand covered Pikachu's mouth; the other gripped her by the scruff.

Pikachu's squealed, tears of pain coming to her eyes.

Ash was oblivious. Meowth lowered the boy's arm slowly, laying it on the ground softly to avoid waking him.

Pikachu looked down at Ash, screaming behind Jesse's hand.

"We did it," James sang quietly, doing a victory dance behind them. Meowth ran over and gave him a high-five, joining in on the dance.

Jesse was so busy rolling her eyes she didn't notice Pikachu wiggle the top of her mouth over her captors hand.

Pikachu opened wide, and brought her teeth down on Jesse's fingers hard enough to draw blood.

The scream echoed through the woods.

Jesse threw Pikachu down and grabbed her own hand, watching blood seep over the yellow rubber.

Clefable heard the scream from not far away and quickened her pace. The sound was coming from right near where she had left her daughter.

Cleffa woke with a start at the scream, jumping up in fear and running for her life. Her eyes pooled over with tears as terror and panic overtook her mind.

Ash jumped at the sound, his eyes snapping open from his place on the ground. He rolled over quickly to see Pikachu slam to the ground on her side. A squeak tumbled out of her mouth.

Jesse continued to scream.

Ash stood up, grabbing Pikachu, who clung desperately to the front of his shirt.

"What the heck are you doing here?!" he practically shouted over Jesse's wailing, "I thought we got rid of you!"

Jesse shut up quick, glaring at the boy. She held her bleeding hand away from her to avoid bloodying up her white suit.

"How dare you try to take Pikachu from me while I'm sleeping? You are the lowest of the low!"

Pikachu turned in his arms. Murder was written across her face. Her cheeks sparked.

James and Meowth backed up slowly, nervous expressions on their faces. Jesse stood defiant, glaring Ash down.

Pikachu jumped down and landed on all fours in front of Ash, who smiled evilly. She lit up a deep blue, sparks flying around her body. Her fur stood on end, her tail was erect and her eyes shown a dark black.

Team Rocket was about to pay.

At that moment however, several things happened.

Jesse, seeing Pikachu preparing to attack, grabbed Arbok off her belt and tossed him out.

At the same time Cleffa sprinted full tilt into the clearing. Unable to see from the tears in her eyes, she collided with Pikachu, who was thrown off her feet with a, "Ka!" of surprise.

Ash let out an, "Oh!" as well when he saw the pink blur charge and topple Pikachu.

Meowth, who had seen the cleffa rushing in from the edge of the clearing before anyone else, noticed nothing but the glitter of the Moon Stone in her arms. Instinct overtook him. He leapt forward at Cleffa, eager to grab the shiny bauble.

James had his hand on his weezing, but hadn't brought him out before Pikachu was plowed down. His mouth opened in an 'O' of surprise.

Clefable, who had arrived at the spot Cleffa had just fled from, screamed in anger. Her child was gone.

But she had left a trail.

* * *

**a/n: If you haven't noticed yet, I've been editing my chapters... why would you notice? Who rereads fanfics?! *punches self***

**Well, just know that it's now better than it was. ;3**

**-RainbowMunchies**


	5. Metronome

Metronome - Chapter 5

When Clefable had arrived to find Cleffa gone, her heart had fallen through to her stomach.

She frantically glanced around and saw the tall grass bent where Cleffa had ran screaming into the night. The scent of the child still clung to the night air.

Clefable took off towards the camp in a frenzy to find her daughter.

Arbok had come out prepared to fight after listening to the conversation taking place outside his ball. He most definitely hadn't been expecting a pink blur to take out his opponent before the battle had even begun.

Ash's face was in a state of shock, staring at the scene before him.

Pikachu, Cleffa, and Meowth rolled in a ball on the ground.

Pikachu had essentially powered down and was now struggling to detach herself from a sobbing Cleffa. Cleffa clung to her for dear life.

Meowth was attempting to pry the two apart with his massive paws, to get at the shiny rock between them. His face was twisted in concentration; his tongue stuck out as he strained against the struggling pair.

Arbok looked back in extreme confusion at Jesse, who was just as clueless as to what was going on. He turned back to face Ash, who was concentrating on the mini-battle now taking place.

James has taken his hand off his pokeball at this point and moved to stand next to Jesse. His face was pure bewilderment- not much different than usual.

Pikachu finally succumbed to the sobbing Cleffa and attempted to instead thwart off Meowth, who now had one paw on the Moon Stone. His other was prying at Pikachu's skin, pulling the Cleffa-- and two huge chunks of Pikachu's fur-- away from her.

Pikachu growled at Meowth, but he refused to heed her warning. She Scratched at his face with her free paw but he dodged it, slipping his other paw in between Pikachu and Cleffa. Together at last, his paws wrapped around the stone and pulled hard.

Cleffa couldn't hold onto both Pikachu and the Stone, and with a final tug Meowth tumbled backwards, landing on his butt, his prize shimmering in his paws.

Ash knelt down and helped Pikachu sit up. The Cleffa was sobbing now, gasps barely escaping her mouth. Her tiny eyes were wrenched shut and her hands clung to Pikachu's fur, pulling the yellow guardian as close as possible.

Meowth gazed lovingly at the Moon Stone he held. The moon bounced off it in a thousand directions. He mewle, stroking it gently.

Jesse, James, and Arbok stared at Meowth like he was nuts.

"Waddya lookin' at?" he hissed at them, "Lay off, its mine! I got it, nows I own it."

Ash began trying to calm the Cleffa down, but she shirked in terror from the boy. She buried her face in Pikachu's stomach. Pikachu patted her softly on the back of the head.

Ash stood up and backed away slowly. This was up to Pikachu-- the Cleffa was way too afraid of humans for him to do anything useful. Instead he focused his attention on Team Rocket, making sure they weren't planning on a surprise attack.

At the moment however, Jesse James and Arbok were attempting to talk to Meowth, who seemed to have lost his mind. He was sitting staring at a shining piece of rock Ash was sure he recognized.

"Meowth come on, help us out here. Now's our chance to get Pikachu; what on Earth do you think you're doing?!" Jesse shouted, pointing towards Ash.

"No," Meowth said angrily, his tail twitching with agitation, his face never once leaving the stone, "Leave me alone. I just wanna sit here with my lil shimmery shiny stone and be left alone."

"But Meooooowth," James whined, "I thought we agreed our goal was Pikachu. Don't you remember?"

But Meowth had stopped listening. He was too absorbed in the treasure now in his possession.

Pikachu had managed to calm the Cleffa enough that it had stopped sobbing. It stood on its own, one paw still clutching Pikachu, the other wiping its eyes. Tiny hiccups tumbled from its mouth.

Pikachu was licking its ear soothingly, purring in a calming tenor.

It seemed to be working- until Cleffa realized the absence of her stone.

She looked around frantically, lifting Pikachu's foot to check underneath. She glanced behind Pikachu, running around to look under her tail. Pikachu's eyes flooded with confusion.

Cleffa was about to break out in tears again when she saw the stone glitter from Meowth's paws.

She ran towards him, grinning in a state of euphoria, thrilled to have not lost the stone which was so important to her.

Clefable burst through the bushes just in time to see Meowth leap up and use Fury Swipe to fend off a smiling Cleffa.

Big mistake.

Clefable charged forward with red eyes of Rage, and had landed the first of her Double Slaps on Meowth before Cleffa had even hit the ground.

Meowth's eyes went wide with shock as the second slap sent him flying, hitting a tree hard. Specks of blood flew out of his open mouth as the feline's spine hit the tree hard enough to break bark.

The Moon Stone went flying, but Clefable was headed towards her unconscious daughter, who now had a concerned Pikachu tending to her.

Pikachu turned in time to see Clefable's eyes, blinded with Rage. Before she could explain herself, the Clefable began an ominous move of Metronome.

Hands ticking back and forth, the sweet voice deepened, chanting an unknown language. Her eyes shone red, reflecting only the full moon.

Clefable held her arms out in front of her, moving back and forth. All at once she threw her paws away from her body.

An explosion of light shot from Clefable, hitting Pikachu and Cleffa both at once.

Jesse and James, who were tending to Meowth, turned at this-- only to have light blind them. They wailed in exaggerated pain, covering their eyes with their arms. Meowth lay unconscious between them.

Ash rushed forward towards the light-- towards Pikachu. A pink paw pointed out towards him, and he was stopped in his tracks by Gravity.

He struggled against the attack, tears forming at his eyes. Pikachu was in there! She needed his help!

Everything seemed so hopeless.

And all at once Clefable felt a blinding pain shoot through her.

Arbok, whose vision relied for the most part on sense of smell and vibrations, had found Clefable in the bright light and locked onto the back of her neck with Fire Fang.

A scream escaped Clefable's lips as fire surged through her body. Her arm fell and Ash tumbled forward as the Gravity was ripped away.

The light grew even brighter as the wailing reached a higher pitch. Arbok clamped down tighter, determined to finish off Clefable in one attack. Blood poured from the bite, turning Arbok's white fangs a crimson red.

Clefable's arms flailed, reaching backwards in a futile attempt to rip the fangs from her baking flesh. She was burning alive from the inside. She felt her lungs collapse; her heart burst into flames.

The light grew, obscuring the forest, the sky, the moon, everything.

The sound of an explosion could be heard.

Ash was thrown back hard. His head hit the ground and he was out in an instant.

Team Rocket caught the explosion full force as well. Arbok's hold on Clefable gave way and he flew into the sky with his team, hissing a curse upon the world.

The light cleared slowly, and Clefable slumped forward to its knees.

Its eyes were no longer red, nor were they black. They seemed to have dimmed to a dull gray.

Blood trickled from the corner of its mouth.

From its knees the pokemon fell to its side.

It twitched once; smoke rose from its charred innards.

The clefable let out a soft, unheard whisper for her daughter before dying.

A burning body in the cold night.

* * *

**a/n: Whew. I've never had that many characters interacting in one place before.**

**I have to say that this story isn't turning out as romantic as I thought it would so far. :/ It's taken me longer than I ever thought it would to get to this (hence the spoiler summary that I put up when I first started this thing).**

**So, thanks to my stupidity, I think you all know what happens next... ;3**


	6. Evolution

Metronome - Chapter 6

When the sun reached through the trees to wake Ash, it was not a good feeling.

Ash felt as if he'd gotten an Iron Tail to the head. The previous nights events swirled together in his mind. There was Team Rocket… and a cleffa… and that clefable had gone nuts and-

Pikachu!

Ash bolted up into a sitting position, something his body did not appreciate after a night on the hard ground. His eyes scanned the area, anxiously searching for his friend.

The ground in the clearing had taken on a scorched look. A pokemon lay face down in the grass. From the large pink body, Ash assessed this was Clefable. But why was she laying so still?

And even more perplexing-- who were the two naked girls laying in front of her?!

Ash leapt up, once again inviting an unhappy response from his strained muscles. He walked stiffly over to the girls. They were both gorgeous, and he blushed at their naked bodies.

But now was not the time. He needed to find out where Pikachu was! Ash surveyed the area around him.

A stench slowly permeated his consciousness. It was an awful smell, like spoiled meat that had been left in a dumpster. It stifled him, and he unconsciously backed away from the clefable's body before realizing the source of the stink.

The clefable's rotting corpse.

For the first time Ash noticed the scorch marks burned into the bright pink fur. Dried blood covered the area, having been pumped out of the massive bite wounds upon Arbok's abrupt flight.

Unable to detach his fangs quick enough, the soft flesh had been burned and ripped through. The result was a set of open flesh, blackened at the warped, jagged edges. Flies crawled in and out of the wounds, sitting on the raw flesh and rubbing their delicate legs together.

Ash gagged. He couldn't help it. Of all the things he had ever seen Team Rocket do, this had to be the worst of them. He ran for the trees and vomited what little was in his stomach. Tears streamed from his eyes.

His memories took him back to a cold winter day in Pallet Town. A milk truck had plowed down a ratatta, crushing its spine. Ash had dragged his mother out, begging her to help the creature.

Sad eyes; she had looked at him with such sad eyes.

Blood everywhere.

The ratatta had been screaming. No words, no "Ratatta!"

Just screams.

Those screams were in Ash's nightmares dozens of times growing up.

And such a simple explanation she had given him. Life ended. In and out, that's how it was. Everything and everyone has a time, and it was time for this ratatta.

The ratatta had died in the street, spine crushed, eyes blood red, screaming for the end.

Ash had forgotten. Had forgotten the blood and screams; had forgotten the nightmares that had existed so long ago.

Ash expected he would be having new nightmares now. Same screams, same blood, but a different mutilated body.

He dry heaved a final time, the tears subsiding. No more sobs, but steady drops fell from his eyes like leaky faucets. He wiped his face with one hand.

A scream ripped through the forest.

Pikachu!

Ash dashed back towards the camp. One of the girls had awakened and was screaming at the corpse, her naked body sat up on its knees. Her hands were covering her eyes and she was sobbing and screaming.

The other girl remained laying still; her body slumped on its side facing away from Ash.

Ash was deeply concerned for the girl. Nobody should have to go through what was happening to her right now.

"Miss…" he said softly. It hurt to speak after practically pouring acid on his vocal chords. The girl continued to cry and scream, having not heard him.

"Hey!" Ash said a little louder.

No response.

The screams were driving Ash mad. He couldn't stand this. His hands came up to the sides of his head, applying pressure. The screams echoed in his head.

He took a shaky step, then ran at the girl. He fell to his knees in front of her, grabbing her shoulders.

He shook her, his eyes clamping shut. His words came out hoarse. It pained him to talk.

"Please stop! Please! Please!"

The girl stopped screaming, and Ash opened his eyes to see her hands slowly lower.

Her face was that of pure misery. It had crumpled in on itself; tears flowed freely down her face. She whimpered softly.

Her hair was long and considerably messy now. The color was a bright corn-flower blond with brown layers beneath. Tuffs of brown hair stood out noticeably within the golden bangs. The same blond colored her eyebrows.

Her face, or what Ash could make of it through the snot and tears, was a deep tan. Her cheeks were extremely rosy-unnaturally so. It was as if she had taken the brightest blush she could find and applied it directly to the apple of her cheeks.

"Oh gosh," Ash said, releasing her quickly, "I'm so sorry."

Ash's face was that of shock and embarrassment. Nothing here made any sense, and he felt awful for yelling at this poor girl, who was obviously just as frazzled as him.

At least _he _had his clothes…

The girl sniffed, rubbing her eyes. She squinted hard at Ash before a look of recognition lit up her face. She jumped forward, wrapping her arms around Ash's head in a hug.

"Waahh!" Ash yelped. He definitely hadn't been expecting that.

He wrapped his arms around her as she cried into his neck. He felt so bad for the girl it was a moment before he realized…

She was completely naked.

Ash cursed himself for thinking of something so pointless when something so important was occurring, but he couldn't help it. He could feel the girls breasts press against his own chest, the nipples hard from her night in the cold forest.

His hands rested on the girl's naked back, just above her bare behind.

He pushed her away from himself quickly, scared of where his thoughts could lead.

Scared of how easily it was for him to ignore the rotting corpse, a mere dozen feet or so from where they were kneeling.

She gave him a puzzled look through her tears.

"Piiiiiii?"

Ash froze, his hands gripping the girl's shoulders firmly.

"What did you just say?"

"Pi? Pikachu!" The girl said-- a perfect imitation of a certain electric pokemon.

Ash's eyes grew wide.

This had to be some sort of trick.

"Pi…Pikachu is that you?" Ash asked slowly, pronouncing every syllable.

The girl nodded through her tears.

Ash sat back in astonishment, consciously ignoring the rotten smell that seemed to be growing more intense by the moment.

"Pikachu" began to look at herself. She sniffed back the tears quietly as she held her hands before her, turning them and bending each finger individually. Eyes traveled up her arms, finally looking at and then behind her shoulder to find no tail.

This surprised her quite a bit. She stood up and circled around, desperate to check if she had simply missed it.

This gave Ash a 360 view of a gorgeous example of the female human anatomy. Her curves were natural, but elegant as well. Tattoos of dark brown skin covered her back, starting out from the spine and ending as triangles along her stomach.

Ash had met a girl once with a birthmark shaped like a Squirtle. The color of the dark skin reminded him of that birthmark.

Her breasts were a good size, not gigantic, but big enough to bounce. Ash couldn't help but notice them. The skin looked firm and soft, despite the bounciness, and didn't sag at all – like dream breasts. The kind women dream about, but by the time they're old enough to appreciate them gravity has already started in.

Her butt was plump but small. It didn't stick out, but had more of a peach shape to it. A black spot sat deep in the skin just above the girl's rear cleavage.

The girl's legs were beautiful, curving down from her thighs to form her strong, gentle calves. Her feet looked strong, yet not a single callous graced them.

In fact, Ash noticed, it looked as if all of the girl's skin was that of a baby. Smooth and new, it shimmered with a dark tan in the morning sunlight.

Ash had, once again, almost forgotten about the dead body, what with this spectacle occurring in front of him, but a fresh breeze insisted on blowing the stench right into their faces, reminding him of so many horrid things.

Ash covered his nose with his hand. The girl's nose crinkled, but she continued to survey her body, spinning slowly.

What was he going to do? If this was Pikachu, why the heck wasn't she a Pikachu?! And the other naked girl troubled him as well. She looked much younger than the girl of about 15 that twirled completely naked in from of him; 7 or 8 at the oldest.

The first thing they had to do was get away from this decomposing body.

Ash looked up at the girl's face, trying to catch her eye. "Pikachu…"

The girl stopped spinning immediately to look at Ash. Her attention focused on him and him alone. A few tears still sat drying on her face, but they had stopped falling. The fear was past. Ash could see ice-blue eyes through giant black lashes.

"Piiii?"

"If you really are Pikachu," he instantly felt bad about saying this when the girl flinched sadly, but continued, "Please help me."

The girl nodded, her hands bunching into fists in front of her; a determined look shown upon her face.

Ash instructed her to pull the younger girl away from the body as he packed up the sleeping bag.

"Pikachu" reached Ash with the girl just as he was pulling his spare set of clothes from his bag. He handed them to the girl, who looked at him skeptically.

"If you are Pikachu, you have no clue how to put those on, do you?"

The girl's eyes filled with sadness, and Ash sighed as he took back the clothes. He had the girl lift her arms, and pulled the black t-shirt over her head. It fit her nicely, though it was a tad big for her. Ash couldn't help but notice her breast bounce as she clapped happily for their small success.

Next came the pants, a little trickier. Lucky for Ash, the girl was catching on quick. He got the legs around her ankles, and she pulled them up herself. He only had to help with the buttons, which he did while looking straight up.

The last thing he needed, he reminded himself spitefully, was for his body to overreact to this beautiful girl in front of a Clefable's rotting corpse.

He slipped his spare, beat-up set of grey sneakers on the girl's feet, and she was all dressed.

That left the unconscious girl. She still hadn't awoken, and she was still naked.

The girl, Ash decided, was definitely closer to 8. Her chest was nowhere near developing. Her body was small and thin. No curves shown on her either.

She was almost the opposite of the older girl.

Her hair however, caught Ash's eye. It was shoulder length but, much like the semi-towheaded girl's, was a bright pink with brown streaks beneath it. A large curl of pink hair dipped in and out of the girl's delicate features.

Her skin was a creamy color. It wasn't quite pale, but looked more like it had not been graced by the sun in a while. The girl's cheeks were a dark pink against the light skin, as if she was blushing, even in her unconscious state.

She breathed very lightly, but Ash could see she was, for all intensive purposes, healthy. Dirt covered her body where the older girl had had to drag her along the floor of the forest.

What was he going to dress this one in? "Pikachu" already had his only set of-

The pink dress.

Misty was going to kill him.

He reached back into his backpack and pulled out the dress, along with a water bottle. He opened it quickly, taking a sip, before offering some to the conscious girl. She took it carefully, with both hands, before carefully lifting it. She placed the rim against her lips before pushing up on the end of the bottle.

The water slid down into her mouth, and she sipped it in short spurts.

Ash stared at her for a long moment, eyes wide.

If this girl was trying to fool him, she had certainly done her homework.

He turned slowly from her confused look to the unconscious, naked girl in front of him. An idea occurred to him, and he reached back into the bag for a clean pair of his own boxers. If he was putting this girl in a dress, she needed underwear.

The girl helped him lift the younger girl's legs and position the underwear. He pulled them up the length of the child, eyes staring straight up at the sky.

The dress was easier. The older girl held up the unconscious body, and Ash slid the beautiful dress over the sleeping head, over the limp arms, and finally down over her shapeless hips.

That done, Ash lay the girl down in the softer grass.

The older girl sat down next to him-- snuggled against him to be more exact.

Her head went under his chin, and then came up to rub their cheeks together. Ash's vision rested on the pink, bloating corpse. His eyes glazed over in thought.

When Ash finally spoke, it was seriousness that dominated his voice.

"You are Pikachu aren't you?"

The girl looked at him solemnly.

Ash turned to look at her. Tears threatened to spill over. His hand came up to pet the top of her head gently.

"I'm so confused Pikachu. What's going on?!"

The tears fell, and Pikachu leaned in with a concerned face. Her tongue darted out, catching the tears as they fell. They tasted so salty to her new tongue. She didn't know what to do, and so she concentrated on that taste.

Finally Ash spoke, wiping his tears from his face with the back of his hand.

"Can you… can you speak…human?"

Pikachu thought about this. She had heard the humans speaking all her life. She could understand their speech. She tested her new vocal chords.

"Ooooooooooohhhhhh."

Ash gave her a puzzled look. She tried again.

"E-e-e-esssss," she strained. The word was there, she just had to try for it, to form the sounds around the word.

Finally, "Y-Y-Yes." The face she made when saying this was one part concentration, one part frustration. When the word finally came out, she smiled with glee, clapping her soft hands together happily.

"Yes! Yes! Yes. I c-c-c-an. Yes I can!"

Pikachu was so happy; she didn't notice the grave look that crossed Ash's face.

"Pikachu, we have to get out of here," Ash said quickly, prompting a befuddled frown from Pikachu.

"We can't let that girl see that clefable. If that Metronome did what I think it did, she's the cleffa that ran into you last night. That makes that clefable-"

"Her mamma!" Pikachu finished, a look of shock and sadness crossing her face.

Ash nodded sadly.

Pikachu nodded back, and the preparations began. Ash packed the water bottle back up and saddled Pikachu with the backpack.

The unconscious girl was another matter; she would have to be carried.

Ash picked the girl up like a baby. She was so light it was no problem for him. He cradled her gently. He didn't want to wake her, but wasn't too worried about it. She hadn't even stirred when Pikachu had been screaming right next to her.

But they needed to get out of there. Fearow and spearow circled overhead, and Ash was without pokemon now. The last thing the girl needed to see if she woke up was that not only was she human, but her dead mother was being pecked to pieces by bird-of-prey pokemon.

With one last look, Ash turned and headed along the path towards the edge of the woods. It was regularly a full day's walk from here. With Cleffa, it would take double that time easy. And he wasn't sure how fast Pikachu was in her new body.

It was going to be a long trip.

Pikachu followed close behind, but something caught her eye as the sun shifted overhead. Behind them in the clearing a light glinted brightly in the sunlight. She intended to ignore it, but something pulled her towards it.

She ran over, going roundabout to avoid the dead body, and grabbed the brilliant stone, putting it in her pants pockets for later. She could get used to pockets! She picked up tuffs of grass and flower buds on her way back to Ash, shoving them deep into the pockets.

Burying the precious stone.

* * *

**a/n: Lulz. I was editing this, and I was like, goddamn, why is Pikachu so damn good looking?! Then I remembered her skin is supposed to be "brand new" (hence great boobs, butt, and skin), and she's fit from being a pikachu. IDK I just always think a creature that's that fast AND walks everywhere would be thin and have good muscle tone. X3  
**

**So don't hate on my beautiful human Pikachu! ;P**

**-RainbowMunchies  
**


	7. Princess Pikachu!

Metronome – Chapter 7

Pikachu was glad she had been practicing walking on her hind legs for most of her life. If she had needed to acquire that skill, it would have taken them until the end of time to reach the end of the forest.

As it was, they weren't making good time in any way, shape, or form. Ash had hurt his arm in his tumble, and while at first carrying Cleffa hadn't seemed like a problem, it was quickly becoming seriously painful for him. They had to stop every 5 minutes so he could set the small girl down and rest.

The first 20 minutes or so had been quiet, besides Ash saying he had to sit. The first time he had said this, Pikachu had turned her eyes upon him in the deepest look of sadness and worry Ash had ever seen. He was almost reluctant to stop again after that.

But the pain in his arm was becoming unbearable, and carrying around about 50 pounds of dead weight wasn't helping at all. They had to stop, and every time they did Ash felt as if his heart would break from the pain in Pikachu's eyes.

It was about the 4th time that had taken a seat under the shade of the trees that Ash had started questioning Pikachu. She sat very close to him whenever they rested, close enough to consistently touch arms.

"Pikachu," he said, not bothering to look up-- he could feel her there, and knew she would still be staring at him with her giant blue eyes, "Do you feel alright? The change didn't… didn't hurt you did it?"

Pikachu thought for a moment. Her head tilted against Ash's shoulder in concentration. Her fingers came up to run themselves through her long hair.

Besides the initial vertigo from being in an altogether new body, and a few bruises here and there from her landing after being thrown back from the Metronome, she felt perfectly fine.

As for the change itself, she didn't remember feeling any pain. One moment she was attempting to convince the raging clefable she wasn't an enemy, and the next there had been a blinding light, a warm sensation, and she had woken up, human and butt naked, to find the same clefable lying in front of her.

No. Not the same clefable. The clefable from last night had been alive; raging and deadly-- but alive. This clefable had been horribly mutilated; dead and never again to return to the realm of the living.

Ash turned to look at Pikachu, who remained deep in thought. He gave a thin smile. Even as a human, Pikachu thought things through thoroughly before expressing herself.

She finally turned to look back at him, face-to-face. She nodded once, and then struggled to speak.

"I'm f-f-fine."

Her lips still had trouble forming around the words she was so familiar with. It frustrated her, and the simple sentence ended with a little pout. The tiny pink lips stuck out and her blond brows furrowed.

Ash gave her an encouraging smile. His eyes lit up a bit.

"It's okay Pikachu. I've been talking for 14 years and even I can't say what I mean to half the time."

Pikachu gave him a confused smile, to which Ash laughed.

He stood up, stretching his pained arm across his chest. It still hurt, but they had to keep going. He wasn't going to be able to feed all three of them off the few sandwiches left in his bag, and he had a strong feeling he should be taking the younger girl for help somewhere. It troubled him that she hadn't woken up, even after all the screaming and jostling she'd been through.

At this notion his smile disappeared from his face, to be replaced by a thoughtful frown. He sauntered over, bent down to his knees, and gathered the tiny girl in his arms.

The pink dress fit her nicely, hanging only a bit from Ash's arms. He lifted her like an infant, and Pikachu came over to help him stand. When he had risen, Cleffa's arm hung limp, and Pikachu gingerly lifted it to gently lay it across the girl's chest. Her eyes were full of care for the child, and Ash was almost surprised to find himself looking down at the girl with the same feelings he'd just seen reflected in Pikachu's eyes.

This girl suddenly meant more to him than before. He couldn't express it clearly; it was as if all at once a switch had been flipped inside of him. He cradled the girl gently against him, supporting her head in his arms.

"Cleffa…," he said lovingly, and Pikachu looked up at Ash with a smile, her eyes closing in glee.

"Kaaaa," she breathed happily, then caught herself. Her eyes snapped open and her hand came up to cover her mouth.

This seemed to knock Ash out of his trance as well. He blinked hard twice in confusion and then quickly turned his body to start the march towards their next stopping point.

After they had walked for a while, Ash found that concentrating on the sky made his arm hurt a little less. He watched the great white clouds float across an endless blue plain, bordered by the thick canopy of trees. A lone pidgey flitted in and out of sight.

Okay, this was getting boring.

A million questions were bumping around in his head, and the sky wasn't answering any of them.

Ash considered questioning Pikachu for a moment, his forehead wrinkling between the pain of his arm and the effort of his thoughts, and decided that talking might help distract him from the pain, and wouldn't hurt the Pikachu he knew at all.

He looked sideways at Pikachu, who walked forward happily. He noted to himself that she seemed to look at everything all at once. Her head turned this way and that, her eyes focusing first on a caterpie in the brush, then on a branch of a tree, and back down to a rotten berry hidden beneath a bush. On and on, it was as if she couldn't stop absorbing all the things around her.

"Does it look different?" Ash asked. The words were soft, but Pikachu was visibly surprised by the sound. She turned to look at him, shaking her head slowly, then quickly stopping and nodding, stopping that just as quickly and bringing her hand up to her chin in a look of consideration.

"Things look the same but different. It's higher… a different way of looking. These eyes are more… shiny. Do you get it?"

Though he didn't quite comprehend, he nodded anyway, to which Pikachu gave a small embarrassed smile. She was happy to be speaking in a way Ash could understand.

"Is it difficult to talk?" Ash queried, his eyes were full of wonder and curiosity, "I know Meowth can do it, even as a Pokemon… but is it like translating from 'Pika pika' to human speech, or is it… a different language altogether?"

This time Pikachu thought carefully before she answered.

"Well… if you said 'Pika pika' in different ways with your voice, it means different things. But it does translate pretty good."

Ash raised an eyebrow, and so Pikachu offered to demonstrate. She raised her voice slightly, stressing the first letter of each word.

"_P_ika, _P_ikaaa. That would mean something like… edible flower. We don't really speak in sentences, but more like words that say things…"

She trailed off, realizing she wasn't quite making sense. She bit her lower lip with an abnormally sharp canine, and a light blush darkened her already rosy cheeks.

Ash looked at her with more curiosity than ever. His eyes glinted in the sun, his pain completely forgotten.

"So does your _name_ mean something?"

Pikachu blushed even brighter, her hands coming together to wring gently in front of her. She stared at the ground in front of her.

"Yes…" she mumbled.

"Well?" Ash was desperate to know now.

"It means…" she stared straight up at the sky, half concentrating on translating, half too bashful to look Ash in the eyes as she finished the sentence.

"Come on Pikachu, what is it? You can tell me!"

A sigh escaped her lips. He was right. If she was going to tell anyone, it might as well be Ash.

"… The Princess Who Laughs at Thunder." Her eyes clenched in embarrassment as she added quickly, "But you would say it as Nikola."

Ash's eyes lit up with amazement. His mouth gaped open. He almost dropped poor Cleffa.

All this time he had been casually saying Pikachu's name, not knowing the importance behind it.

"You're a… princess?!"

She stopped and turned quickly to look at him, wanting to explain herself before this got out of hand.

"One of many! We pikachu breed in litters. I was the last of eight, and my mother was the Queen of our tribe. The name I have is just a name; it has nothing to do with me being royalty or anything!"

But Ash would hear none of it. A huge smile wrapped around his face as he thought of Princess Pikachu, waltzing about at the Pikachu Ball in a tiny pink gown, a tiara gracing her forehead, her stumpy body swirling gracefully around the wooden floor of the tree house ballroom.

Seeing that Ash was not paying attention to her, Pikachu pouted. Her arms crossed her chest and she walked forward in silence.

It was much longer this time before Ash had to rest. The pain crept up slowly through his Princess Pikachu imaginings. He was still smiling when they sat again, only this time Pikachu sat a bit away from Ash, her knees pulled up to her chest so she could hide her face behind her arms.

"Hey Pikachu," Ash said, his smile slowly fading, "What's wrong? I think it's awesome you're a princess!"

"I'm NOT a princess!!" she spat, raising her head up suddenly. Her hair stood up with static, and the sun shone brightly through the golden strands.

Ash was visibly flabbergasted. He fell back a bit, his eyes opening wide. Pikachu saw the confusion in his face, and saw something heartbreaking in his eyes.

Hurt.

Her face softened instantly, and she shifted to her knees to crawl towards Ash on all fours. More out of habit than anything, she sat down in his lap, her back resting against his chest.

While to Pikachu this was a more than normal seating arrangement, Ash's face lit up crimson behind her. This was absolutely NOT the norm for him. Pikachu wasn't a yellow fur ball anymore, and his body recognized this in rather… embarrassing ways.

He held his breath, thinking icky thoughts. An image popped up from the unknown of Mimey in a thong (he was unsure why this was in his database, but he thanked God for it now) and that instant was all he needed to get himself under control.

Pikachu, however, was unaware of these happenings, and instead leaned against him, looking at a strand of golden hair twined around her ring finger.

"Just that… I wasn't a princess. I wasn't liked o-o-or… or treated like royalty."

That was an understatement. As the youngest princess, she had been treated worse than anything. The expectations put on her were the same as those put on her sisters, but no one offered help or encouragement. Who cared about a useless princess? She would never be Queen, and therefore would never be worth anything.

She was just another mouth for her tribe to feed.

Tears formed, brimming at the edges of her eyes. Ash heard her breathing hitch and leaned around to look at her face in mild confusion. Tears streamed down her cheeks, grouping at her chin and dribbling along her neck to soak the front of her shirt.

Ash's eyes filled with sadness and deep confusion. Pikachu brought her arms up weakly, wiping uselessly at her face with the base of her hands. Sniffles escaped her mouth along with hiccups of misery.

"That… that – _hic_- was why I ran – _hic, sniff_- I ran away from the –_hic_-," she couldn't control her words anymore, and she cried noisily, hiccupping uncontrollably. Her face collapsed in sorrow.

Looking at her, Ash was overpowered with a sense of hollow grief. He had opened up wounds he couldn't heal-- had no clue how to heal.

Pain ripped though his heart at his own foolishness. All at once he wanted nothing more than to see her smile again-- to make her feel okay again. He would say anything, do anything.

And so he did what he always did in these situations.

He let his heart take over.

Ash's arms lifted with a will not entirely his own, and encircled the girl.

He pulled her securely to his chest, his face leaning down to rest on her shoulder. She yipped quietly in surprise, her hands gripping Ash's arms.

"Piiii?"

Ash spoke slowly and softly into her ear, his lips brushing gently against her hair; his breath tickled her neck.

"You are my Princess. I will treat you like royalty. I will always support you. I will never leave you. I will never abandon you. I will never push you away"

Pikachu felt as if a wave of warmth and understanding was crashing down on her heart. Her eyes widened, tears dripping from the corners, then clamped shut. Her legs pulled up to her chest. Fresh tears gushed out as she sobbed into Ash's arms. Her shoulders shook with each desperate gasp for air.

Ash pressed his face into her neck, desperate to give her an anchor. Her hand came up and twined into his dark hair, pushing his hat off his head and pressing him closer.

Pikachu was overcome with love. How could one person understand so much about her? How was it he could so easily know what to say to wash away her hatred for herself?

She had hidden this away so long, it felt like someone else. She had forgotten it, had forgotten the hate for herself that the other Pikachu had pushed into her heart. Ash had helped her forget, and now he was helping her remember.

"Piiiii," the sound escaped her lips as a shaky sigh.

"Nikola," Ash whispered, and her eyes snapped opened, "From now on I will call you Nikola. Because you have never been afraid, and because you _are _a princess."

She shook her head slowly, a moan coming forth from deep in her chest. He was wrong. She _had _been afraid. So many times-

Afraid for him.

Nikola turned her face towards Ash. The tears began to slow. Ash's eyes were hidden beneath his ebony hair.

Her hand came down slowly from his hair and gently pushed back the wild bangs. Eyes beset with emerald jewels of understanding gazed back at her.

Eternity passed.

Nikola moved slowly, her lips pursing slightly. Ash lifted his face, not once taking his eyes from hers.

They moved ever so slowly.

Their thoughts were one and the same.

Inches, then centimeters away.

They each felt the breath of the other on their lips.

Next to them Cleffa stirred, and for the second time that morning a scream echoed through the woods.

* * *

**a/n: *evil grin* And moving on...**


	8. Daughter of the Moon

**a/n: Pikachu's really a GUY? O:**

**Oh no! I didn't know thaaaaat! Guess I should just get rid of this story altogether! D'8**

**(that was sarcasm =_=;)**

**

* * *

**Metronome - Chapter 8

When Pikachu had screamed, it had been from confusion and fear.

When Cleffa screamed, it was from confusion and fear-- but it was also from grief.

The instant she had awoken, she had known her mother was dead. Cleffa, clefairy, and clefable all shared this bond-- she knew this only because the elders had told her. She had never experienced it firsthand.

Until now.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

Cleffa whipped around on the ground, screaming so loudly her throat immediately felt raw. She wasn't used to this body, and between the sorrow and vertigo she became violently ill all at once.

Ash jumped up quickly with Nikola following suit. He leaned over Cleffa, concern written on his face in bold upper-case letters.

"Chu! _P_ika-_c_hu!" Nikola screamed over Cleffa's noises, _'Calm young one! Help!'_

The pikachu had always been one of the lower races when it came to speech. Cleffa and her extended family had worked particularly hard on forming coherent sentences in their speaking. The primitive words didn't hit Cleffa's ears right, and she began screaming again, completely unaware of what Nikola had said.

Even if she had understood, it was doubtful Cleffa would have listened. Her mind was clogged with pain and noise. Her mother was dead, and it felt like something had been ripped away.

Like her heart had set fire with her mother.

She was about to go insane from the heartache.

"Cleffffaaaaa!" she screeched, '_Mother!'_

Suddenly Nikola grabbed Cleffa's shoulders and pinned the small girl down. This hushed her quickly, and she whimpered beneath the older female.

Nikola's face was hard and she spoke directly to the girl, starting her straight in the eyes.

"Pi! _P_ika! Pikachuu?"

'_Hush! Help! Are you okay?'_

The girl shook her head violently, clenching her eyes shut as the tears streamed down her face.

"Cleee_ff_a! _Cle_ffa! Cl_e_ffa cleff cleffaaaa! _Cle_ffa cleffa!," she practically screamed at Nikola, weakly thrashing against the restraint.

'_Mother is dead! Kill me! I have lost the stone, I have lost mother! I can never go home!"_

Cleffa's body shook under Nikola's weight as sobs rose from deep in her chest.

Nikola looked to Ash for help. He had no clue what Cleffa was saying, and it showed in his face. Confusion had crept over it, and his eyes had glazed over with sadness and pain. Whatever was happening, he only knew that it wasn't good.

The pain this child must be going through. Nikola's eyes welled up. She struggled not to cry.

The child beneath her blubbered but didn't struggle. She had been weak to begin with and had now given up-- mentally and physically. Tiny moans came from her mouth, and Nikola could make our bits and pieces of words.

"Cl_eee_ffa _Cl_e..faaa…Cl…effaaa…"

'_Hopeless… its hopeless… father… I am useless…"_

Useless.

The word rang through Nikola's head.

She was overwhelmed with the feeling from before-- this mysterious feeling of unending love for this unknown child.

Without warning she lifted the girl up by the shoulders, pulling her into her chest and soothingly stroking her pink hair.

Ash's eyes widened in shock; his hand reached out, then pulled back. He stayed put.

Cleffa seemed taken aback for half a second, and then wrapped her arms around Nikola, weeping openly into her black shirt. Her mouth opened and soft gasps and hiccups sped up as the sobs reached their climax.

Cleffa felt a piece of her heart floating away, like a huge chunk fallen off an iceberg. It drifted out of feeling, leaving her with utter emptiness. She drifted in a sea of anguish. She was spinning out of control.

She dimly realized Nikola smelled sweet. Cleffa focused on this, focused on the smell and feeling of Nikola against her. She sat still even as the rest of her seemed to be moving away.

Nikola kissed the top of the girl's head and hummed quietly. A tune she had heard long ago.

Ash sat. There was nothing he could do, and he realized this. His face was full of curiosity and angst, but he said nothing. He picked his hat up from behind him and placed it back on his head.

Cleffa swarm hard, finally reaching the shore of sanity, led and cheered on by the smell of Nikola, by the feeling of her breathing against Cleffa's face. She flopped onto the sand, struggling to stay put as the waves continued to reach out and pull her away.

The crying went on for roughly ten more minutes, as did the humming. Nikola continued to stroke Cleffa's hair, and slowly the wracking sobs faded into quiet snuffles.

A flock of spearow landed nearby to survey the scene, and Nikola gave them a look that sent them flying with indignant squawks.

"Piiii."

_There there._

Cleffa pressed herself tightly into Nikola's chest, before finally pulling back to look at herself. One hand detached itself from Nikola's waist, and dark chocolate eyes of wonder stared at 5 fingers flexing in unison.

Tears continued to fall-- the girl couldn't seem to make them stop-- but she ignored them as she looked over the new body she inhabited. Tiny fingers pulled at the pink fabric surrounding her body. It stretched, and then pulled back slowly.

Her lips pursed in childlike concentration. She looked down at her knees, then behind her at her feet. She reached around and touched her toes, smiling at the tickling sensation. The smile lasted half a second, and was quickly replaced by a large frown. She turned to look at Nikola, confusion and anguish floating in pools of brown.

"The Metronome…" Nikola started, and understanding flashed into Cleffa's eyes.

Her mother used Metronome on them… during a full moon?! Mother must not have been in control of herself. The elders had told them never to do that-- terrible things could happen!

A terrible thing had happened…

Fresh tears filled Cleffa's eyes. She brought both hands up as fist, rubbing her eyes and sniffling.

"Nuuuuuhhh."

The sound was a moan mixed with a gasping sob.

Nikola pulled the bottom of her shirt up and wiped snot and tears from Cleffa's face. She smiled sadly at the girl, and kissed her gently on the forehead.

"Now now," Nikola said soothingly in human-speech, "Don't cry. Shhhhh."

Nikola's hands cupped Cleffa's cheeks. The fists fell and deep brown eyes focused themselves on calming blue.

"Do you have a name little one?"

"Cl_e_ffa," the girl said slowly, fist resting on her thighs.

'_Daughter of the Moon.'_

Nikola's eyes widened. Her mouth opened slightly in astonishment.

Could it be?

"W-what's her name?" Ash piped up quietly from his seat, breaking into Nikola's thoughts.

She brought her eyes from Cleffa's, slowly meeting Ash's with a look of amazement.

"Daughter of the Moon," she breathed, "or Nokomis…"

Ash realized that this was significant in some way-- to Nikola at least. He sat quietly and waited for an explanation.

Nikola was perfectly ready to explain, but decided it would be best not to say what needed to be said in front of the child. It was just a silly legend from her youth, and it wasn't worth working Nokomis up about…

But it still amazed her.

They sat quietly for a few more moments, and Nokomis' sniffles subsided. Tears would form and overflow, then just as quickly stop , completely out of the control of the girl-- and she let them.

Nikola stood and Nokomis clung to her shirt, rising along with her onto shaky legs.

Ash rose to help Nokomis stand, but she pulled back from him, hiding her face in Nikola's side.

Nikola shrugged half-heartedly at Ash. Nokomis still didn't like humans very much. She had taken a liking to Nikola apparently, but Ash was still a danger to her.

Nikola looked up at the sky. It was past midday already. They needed to get moving. Nokomis was awake, and if there was anything in the world they could do to help, it wouldn't be in this forest.

Ash sensed this too, and grabbed his bag. He was about to slip it on, but stopped. He set the pack down, unzipped it, and pulled out three sandwiches and a water bottle.

After handing two of the sandwiches to Nikola he zipped the bag up and swung it onto his back.

Nikola pulled the plastic off one of the sandwiches and offered it down to the pink hair at her waist.

A hand reached up and took the food. A face appeared behind the hair and took a small bite, chewed noisily, and in a flash the girl was devouring the sandwich.

Nikola's face was streaked red and crusted with dried tears and snot. She ran her fingers across her cheeks and under her eyes, pushing away the itchy feeling these things left behind.

Ash looked at her, chewing slowly. He stepped forward and pushed a hunk of hair away from her face.

Nokomis shuddered between them and Ash backed away slowly.

"Can you walk?" Nikola questioned the child at her waist.

A halfhearted shrug was her reply.

Nikola took a small step forward and Nokomis followed, clinging to Nikola's waist. A few more steps told them all they needed to know, and the group started forth slowly.

So very slowly.

* * *

**a/n: Editing is fun, lulz. After three months, I've found I have managed to wean myself off of em dashes-- for the most part. X3**


	9. We Will Help

Metronome - Chapter 9

The woman smelled so good; it was so very calming.

Nokomis hung to Nikola, matching her steps as best she could. Tears kept falling, but the child didn't even notice them anymore. The pain in her heart throbbed, but the smell of the woman beside Nokomis kept her sane. It was like ice on a bruise or a kiss on a scratch, dulling the pain but not doing away with it completely.

A tiny fist came up and rubbed a blurry eye. A subdued sob escaped the open mouth.

Nikola looked down at the pink tangle of hair. She reached down absentmindedly to comb the pink locks with her fingers, but they were hopelessly knotted.

Ash, meanwhile, was trying his best to walk along and gawk at the girls, all at once, without tripping up. His arm still hurt, but not having to strain it was doing a world of good.

It had been about two hours since they'd set off, and Ash could not think of a single explanation for why this was happening to them, nor what he should, or could, do about it.

"Nikola," he finally said. At the sound of her name Nikola's head jerked up.

"What are we going to do? "

Nikola couldn't see Ash's face. He'd given up looking at the two girls to stare straight ahead.

"How the heck am I supposed to come out of the forest with two girls-- one in _my_ clothes-- and explain that they're pokemon?!"

Nikola stayed quiet. She had no answers.

"Young one," she said softly, and the hair at her waist lifted to show a tiny bright red face, tears freely flowing. Nokomis turned her head in question.

"Nokomis, where is your family? Was it just you and your mother?"

Nokomis gave an enormous frown for such a small face. She shook her head.

"Where is your family?"

Human-speak had been something Nikola had always admired -- the ability to express so many emotions and colors and thoughts. She was making a conscious effort to keep talking like a human now that she could do so.

Nokomis however, being a wild pokemon from birth, wasn't as used to human speech as Nikola, and was having trouble following her. They came to a stop as Nokomis' face screwed up in concentration.

"Clee…effa?"

'_My… family?'_

Nikola smiled comfortingly and nodded.

"Yes darling. Do you have a father? I once heard that the cleffa are connected at birth."

An involuntary moan escaped the girl's lips. She brought a hand up to muffle the sound of despair.

Realization hit Nikola softly in the back of the head, and she cursed herself. If cleffa _were_ connected, than Nokomis had probably felt more pain than anyone could imagine upon waking.

She hugged Nokomis to her gently, and then continued speaking.

"Where is your father?"

The girl looked at Nikola for a long moment, not seeming to understand what she was saying.

"You're father- the male clefable who raised you?"

Comprehension seemed to burst through, and Nokomis's face collapsed in sorrow yet again.

"Cleffa!" she cried, "Cleffa! Cleeef cleffa fa fa?"

'_Father! Oh Father! How could I have failed father?'_

Nikola reached down and wiped Nokomis's tears away. Piece by piece, Nikola pushed all the lose strands of pink hair behind the tiny ears before leaning down to plant a comforting kiss on the child's warm forehead.

Nokomis's stubby arms reached up to hook around Nikola's neck, and the small girl's face burrowed into her collarbone, her hair covering Nikola's face. She hugged the girl back tightly.

Nokomis smelled to Nikola of heat and sweetness. It was the natural smell every child let off, and she hadn't smelt it since she had been back at the nursery for her tribe.

She had loved tending to the kits. They felt nothing but love towards her. They had only wanted someone to hold them, to nurture them, to feed them; and Nikola had been happy to oblige.

It had been the only thing she missed.

"Shhhhh," she whispered, "Where is your father? Is he alive?"

The hair bobbed up and down.

"Well. Do you know where he is?"

Again, another bob, but this one stopped quickly. The hair redirected itself and shook back and forth.

Ash was watching them intently. This time, he had a better idea of what was happening, and was on the brink of insanity waiting for Nokomis's slow answers.

Nikola, however, stayed calm and gently rubbed Nokomis's back.

"Do you want to tell me? We could go find him."

The head pulled back quickly, and pure happiness radiated from the child's face. Eyes wide and shiny with tears, she tripped over her words in an effort to talk.

"Cleffa clef fa?! Clef fa fa Cleffa! Cle-eeeh- effa!"

'_You would really, truly help me get back to father?! We were taken away from him! By bad men!"_

Nikola's blue eyes narrowed.

"Bad men?"

Ash leaned forward, curiosity aflame in his eyes. Bad men? That could only be…

Nokomis nodded, continuing, "Cleffa fa fa, cleff cleff cleffa. Cleeeeffa Cleffa clef clef fa."

'_They wore black, with a red human symbol on their chests. They took my mother and I in the middle of the Moon Ritual."_

"Team Rocket," Nikola translated, looking over at Ash, who nodded back, the anger from her face reflected in his own.

"Welp," Ash said adjusting his cap and stepping towards the two.

Nokomis's eyes flew up beneath long lashes to stare at him.

"Do you think we could help you get back to him?"

"_Cleff_?" Nokomis whispered, tucking in closer to Nikola.

"Your father," Ash said, smiling reassuringly, "We need to get you back to him right?"

Nokomis gave a small smile, her face relaxing from the frightened glare it had been upon Ash's first words. Ash smiled back, an expression that, even under the strain of the moment, calmed the two girls even further, and sent a gentle shiver down Nikola's spine.

"You w-w-will… help?"

The voice was high and soft, traveling from Nikola's side in short, choppy bits. Ash could already feel himself falling even more for this child, floating deep in the pits of her earthy eyes.

"Of course! No one deserves to be away from their family."

His hand came up, settling at Nokomis's level. She flinched slightly, but peered curiously at the appendage from under the curly bangs.

"My name's Ash, it's nice to meet you Nokomis."

Slowly Nokomis raised her right hand. The fingernails were short, like a newborn child's. Meeting Ash's hand, she felt her own enveloped completely, shaken gently, and released just as quickly. It came down to rest by her side. She sniffled loudly, than coughed.

Ash looked at Nikola now, meeting her eyes.

"I don't care what anyone thinks about this. We're going to get Nokomis back to her family."

One gloved fist came up in front of the boy, curling in determination.

"I won't let Team Rocket get away with something like this!"

Nikola watched Ash's movements, smiling all the while. He was so strong. He brought strength so easily.

"First things first," she said, "We need to make it out of the forest before we can go anywhere else."

Ash nodded at her, the grin still in place. Beneath them, Nokomis thanked the stars that such wonderful people had been left to care for her. She snuggled closer to Nikola, yawning loudly.

"Ash," said Nikola, shaking the blond hair from her eyes, "I think I could carry her on my back. It would increase our speed."

She knelt down, gently dethatching herself from the small child, bending on her knees until her back was level with Nokomis's body.

"Climb on young one," Nikola said, and in a flash the cherry-topped child was one her back, legs hooked into Nikola's arms.

"Going up," Nikola warned jokingly, standing. The weight was almost unnoticeable. The child was so small.

So small and frail.

The small success brought an, "Alright!" from Ash, and a subdued giggle from Nokomis, who clung securely around Nikola's slender neck.

With everyone in slightly brighter spirits, the trio set off, making double time.

Nikola heard something in her ear. A mumble, a whisper that evened out into definite words.

"You two are kind. Thank you. I know you will get me back to father"

Nokomis proceeded to drift off to sleep, her head resting against Nikola's own.

Beside her, Ash walked with renewed strength. Nikola sighed, stress seeming to melt away from her heart bit by bit, her mind becoming clearer and more prepared for what lay ahead.

Ash heard the sound. His head turned. That smile of his chipped away the last of it, and as his hand slipped into her own, Nikola could feel nothing but tranquility and love. She smiled, knowing that whatever lay ahead, they would make it together.

And in this way, they made it to the edge of the forest by nightfall.

* * *

**a/n: The next will be Team Rocket.**

**Thanks for waiting. :3**


	10. Pewter is Screwed

Metronome – Chapter 10

It was around the time Nokomis had awakened that Team Rocket had found their consciousness coming back around as well.

At least, Team Rocket sans Meowth.

No matter the amount of shaking or shouts, Meowth wouldn't rouse from his coma, and Jesse and James were practically in a state of panic, even after seeing his muddied chest rising and falling in the midday sun.

"Meooooowth!" James sobbed, his own burns and bruises forgotten, "Wake up! Please wake up!"

After having seen the tree break beneath the cream colored fur, James was scared to touch Meowth; to pick the small feline body up and hug it to himself as simply as he had so many platonic times before.

Instead, he knelt next to the pokemon, shaking hands hovering over the body, barely touching the fur in search of something, _anything_ he could do to aide his friend.

Jesse gave up to brood a few feet off, staring at her teammates with narrowed eyes of concentrated worry, her injured hand de-gloved and bandaged in strips of fabric torn from her own tattered shirt.

Arbok hissed by her side.

After a long moment she glanced around in an effort to gain their bearings, and it was then she noticed the building-tops not far off from the grassy hill upon which she currently stood.

Good. They had landed close to Pewter.

That was the one, if only, benefit of "blasting off"—once you got used to it, it really was a rather efficient way to travel.

"James," she said, calling him to turn and look up at her through his tears, "we need to get Meowth to Pewter. He was hurt bad, and if we want to pick up trailing the twerp, we need to get him healed."

James nodded, wiping his face hurriedly and standing. He looked down at Meowth; they would have to chance moving him.

Jesse turned her head down to meet Arbok's eyes, pulling an empty pokeball from her belt.

"You did an amazing job Arbok," she praised him in a whisper, expanding the ball and returning the melancholy creature in a flash of red.

Arbok hadn't felt good about his likely kill-- Jesse could tell. But that was not something she felt she could handle dealing with right now. Arbok was not hurt, and Meowth was both badly injured and unconscious. Meowth took precedence at this point.

Just as Ash had done for Nokomis, James lifted Meowth's body as if it were that of an infant, cradling him in his arms with the head dutifully supported and tail curled up against the pale stomach.

The walk was not an especially long one. Neither human talked much, except to say this or that about the approaching buildings.

Jesse remarked briefly that she thought she saw smoke, but didn't follow this up with any detail or hint of wanting to continue with the train of thought. It was more a statement than anything else, and they both slipped into silence immediately following its utterance.

They entered the city, and were happy, if not a bit surprised, to find no one in the streets to bother them. Making a beeline for the Poke-Center as well as they could while staying somewhat out of sight, the two didn't notice the banners covering virtually all the buildings.

Or the distant fires.

Or even the screaming.

So focused on Meowth were the two, the wide open doors of the Poke-Center-- one wrenched completely from its hinges, while the other hung sadly from the frame-- were not even sufficient enough warning for what followed next.

Upon entering the Center, the three were instantly surrounded by Team Rocket rookies, eager and ready to fight anyone who dare defy them. They glared at the trio with murderous eyes.

Jesse's head whipped up from Meowth, a look of pure shock on her face. Her hand went automatically to her belt to call out Arbok.

They'd been expecting resistance to their presence—the Joys were always rather unwilling to help them, though in the end they tended to give in for the sake of the pokemon-- but this was a rather unexpected surprise.

"W-w-wait a minute!" James cried out, his head whipping back and forth to watch both Jesse and the grunts at once, "What's going on?! We're all Team Rocket here!"

"Oh…right," Jesse said slowly, blinking. She straightened up, and took on her usually authoritative air.

"What are you doing attacking us? Do you have any idea who we are?"

The Rocket rookies didn't make a move to back down.

"Look," James offered, "why don't we start over? We're Jesse and James. What's going on he—"

"Shut it James," came a snide voice from the back of the room, "What we're up to has nothing to do with you and your reject trio."

From the shadows stepped the voice's owner, and as the green hair hit the midday sun streaming through the windows, both Jesse and James gritted their teeth.

"It's Billy!" James chirped angrily, hugging Meowth to his chest a bit tighter.

"That's not my name!" the man yelled back, losing what cool he'd had, "Why can't anyone ever get it right?!"

"Barney?" James offered, slightly less angry and slightly more baffled. His features relaxed into a look of confusion.

"No, no, no!" was the reply.

"Butch," Jesse practically growled, her eyes narrowing. Beside her James both silently and energetically agreed, his head flailing up and down before coming to rest with sad eyes on Meowth.

Butch composed himself and gave a rather sinister grin; the raticate at his feet snickered in harsh, choppy bursts of air that whistled through its massive teeth.

"Where's your _precious_ Cassidy?" she taunted.

Butch's grin faltered for a split second, only to be replaced with a look of mixed disdain and superiority.

"I wouldn't be so concerned about that," he replied, "what with _your_ third member dead in your arms and all."

"He's not dead!" James screamed, anger and fear causing his voice to fill the room. The grunts around him seemed a bit surprised, but showed no signs of easing off.

"Pfft, whatever," Butch said nonchalantly, "He's close enough, if he doesn't get some care soon-- which is going to be difficult with all the machines under my control."

Jesse's eyes practically lit the room with flames of anger.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" she practically screamed, "Team Rocket isn't supposed to work against each other! Especially not important members like us!"

James shrunk back from Jesse a bit, not desiring to get caught in the explosion of anger. It was then that Meowth stirred briefly in his arms, and James' face lit up with relief and surprise.

"Jesse! Jesse! He moved!" James cried happily, holding a mildly twitching Meowth out towards her.

Jesse turned from her rant to look with eyes that matched James' in emotion. She stepped towards James to place a hand on his shoulder, her face covered with worry, though a small, sad smile played on her lips.

"Meowth, wake up!" Jesse urged, one hand coming out to pet him gently across the forehead.

From his location, Butch glanced down at raticate, who'd grown quiet in the last few moments.

Jesse was stating down at a once again motionless Meowth when she felt something hit her shoulder hard, prompting her to follow the movement of the object down to the ground. At her feet lay a Full Restore. She glared down at it before shifting her vision up to Butch.

"What is this?" she grumbled suspiciously, "Why would you give this to us?"

"Because," Butch said, indifference cloaking his speech, "I don't feel like having to explain to Domino why a Team Rocket member died under my supervision."

James' eyes grew wide with tears of gratefulness.

"Billy! Than—"

"Don't thank me!" Butch interrupted angrily, his face turning to hide a look of embarrassment, "I just don't feel like filling out paperwork and all that crap."

With that, Butch snapped fingers. Around the team, the grunts disappeared. Some slid into the shadows while others marched out the door. In an instant they were gone, leaving Butch and his raticate at one end of the room, and the familiar trio at the other.

After a long moment of silence, Butch spoke again.

"Hurry up and heal him before I change my mind. Full Restore isn't easy to come by you know."

"Oh! Uh… right," James sputtered, lowering Meowth to the floor. Jesse cracked the Full Restore open, exposing the spray nozzle, and began spritzing Meowth from top to bottom. James followed behind her action with his fingers, gently rubbing the precious liquid into the fur, and deeper still into the skin.

Meowth's body stiffened for a moment, and when James reached of Meowth's midsection, he saw why. Beneath the now-damp fur, a deep gash could be seen cutting from the base of Meowth's tail to the center of his back. The area surrounding the cut was a dark pink now, after having been slightly diluted by Jesse's spraying efforts, and James could only imagine the searing pain the disinfectant in the Full Heal was causing right now.

James gritted his teeth, clenched his eyes shut, and rubbed as softly as he could. Beneath his hand felt the warmth of the wound—of the inside of Meowth's being. His shaking hands rubbed the edges of the gash, smearing the healing balm throughout, and feeling awkward scabs and rubbish fall away at the presence of his fingers. All at once James felt the wound close and begin the process of stitching itself back together. It was such a surprising feeling that James' eyes snapped open, and as he looked down, he was almost made sick by what he saw.

The wound had somehow come together through a tightening of the skin. Meowth was twitching more than ever now, and James couldn't blame him. Jesse had actually stepped back from the scene, bottle still in her hand, a look of revulsion on her face.

Along the creatures pale back, a sort of rope raised from the edges of the cut, crusted and sharp. The sections of rope met and twined across the closed flesh, making a sound not unlike crackling leaves in the rain. They seemed to twist together endlessly, become smaller and smaller with each spin. The tight skin beneath shifted this way and that at the tugging of the ropes, expelling the earlier displaced trash and natural scabs. They spurted out the top of the cut, running over Meowth's back and down his heaving sides, leaving watery trails of red.

Meowth made his first sound since the forest.

"N_yyy_yaaaaaaah."

It was primitive agony, pure and simple. James could feel tears coming to his eyes, and with a gulp he leaned back in to finish rubbing the Full Restore onto his suffering friend. The scab settled down, ultimately lying somewhat flat against the skin. The fur was gone, replaced for the moment by the dark red string of crusted blood, and James wondered briefly if Full Restore took care of scars. Meowth wouldn't be happy about something like that.

By the time the last of the Full Restore had been rubbed into the tip of Meowth's tail, the scab on his back had begun to peel away in strips, revealing a line of fresh new skin, shiny and pink. The other small cuts and such had disappeared completely, and the blood surrounding said wounds was gone-- both washed and dissolved away. Both Meowth and James were breathing easier now.

Butch stole another glance at his raticate, who was still silent. The only noises he made were the soft puffs of air that squealed with high pitched screams through his massive front teeth, barely audible over a now-noisy Meowth.

It looked like they were in the clear, so Jesse took the chance to ask what had been on her mind from the beginning.

"So Butch, have you and Cassidy taken over Pewter?"

"Isn't that obvious?" he chirped back in an overly snide voice, and Jesse held back a smart retort with a grimace.

"Look Barney," she said instead, her voice strained by the sheer effort of keeping casual and non-bitchy, "I just want to know what was going on. Like James said, we're all on the same team right?"

She shrugged her shoulders at this, her hands coming out palm-up to match the action, as if this was all rather sound logic.

Butch stood silent for a moment, thinking. Jesse was about to speak up again, when his voice rang out suddenly in question.

"What happened to him anyway? Did those kids finally wise up and try to do away with you guys for good?"

Jesse thought for a very brief moment about telling Butch to mind his own damn business, but decided if she wanted to get any information on this whole Pewter-takeover thing, it'd be in her best interest to keep her temper down as best she could.

James took the chance to rip his eyes from Meowth, and began relaying the story of the previous night's events to Butch. Jesse took the chance to sit down next to Meowth and stretch her muscles—following the twerp for a full day, a tense battle, a blast off, a night on the ground and morning walk didn't exactly add up to one great feeling. She twisted herself this way and that, and finally settled down to stroke Meowth, who'd become quite clammy. She figured this was the Full Restore at work, flushing out any harmful illnesses that could have snuck in through Meowth's wounds. He twitched and mewled under her touch, and she was almost surprised that no words came from his lips, as she had heard him talking in his sleep often before this—especially when sick.

"…and then Jesse's Arbok sunk his teeth into the clefable's neck with a Fire Fang to try and stop it from killing us all, but it was too late. The whole area exploded from the Metronome being interrupted, and we ended up flying off and landing near here," James finished.

Jesse could see Butch once again attempting to cloud his true intentions with a mask of indifference-- the curiosity vividly lit his eyes. Suspicion clouded her thoughts.

"A clefable and a cleffa you say?" Butch said nonchalantly, one hand coming up to rub his chin, "Those aren't very common in the forests. Hell, those aren't very common period."

He stood in place, appearing to think particularly hard about something. At his feet, the raticate remained still—almost statue like. Jesse looked down at Meowth, who had stopped whining and was now snoring lightly, a content look covering his face, a smile playing at the corners of his parted mouth.

"Alright, listen up," Butch finally called out to them, "I think you guys should go after the kids—like usual—only this time get it right and bring back that cleffa and clefable."

Jesse stiffened- no way was she going to take orders-- or even suggestions—from Butch.

But Butch gave her no chance to retort as he plowed ahead in his speech, "Giovanni will be visiting here at the end of the week to survey our takeover of Pewter, which is currently underway under the orders of Domino. If you were to bring back those two rare pokemon, along with Pikachu, they'd be great gifts for the boss when he arrives."

Jesse sat thinking over this idea for a moment. It actually _did_ seem like a pretty solid plan—if they could get to the twerp in time. She nodded absentmindedly. Beside her, James watched for her signal. Jesse was the decider of the team, and as far as James was concerned, always would (and could feel free to) be; this was really up to her.

"Look," Butch said, his voice changing to one of impatience, "Do what you want, but you better get out of Pewter okay? Not only do I not want you three around, screwing up everything with your uncanny ability to do just that, but Domino despises you guys and she can do whatever she wants to you with Pewter under her control. At this point, she could tell all the grunts to run off a mountain if she felt like it, and Giovanni would still praise her. She's got him under her thumb…"

Butch trailed off, realizing he was giving more information than was needed.

"Just hurry up and get out."

With that, he turned-- his raticate close on his heels-- and stalked into the back of the Center.

Jesse watched him leave with a bemused look on her face. So jerks had hearts too, eh?

"Jesse!" James ripped her from her thoughts, ""He's waking up!"

She looked down at Meowth, whose eyelids were slowly rising. In one swift motion, he opened them fully to see Jesse and James leaning over him.

"Nya?!" he cried, startled. He squirmed up into a sitting position, his back legs splaying out on either side, and his front two paws coming out in front to rest on the ground. A typical meowth sitting position—for a typical meowth…

"You okay Meowth?" Jesse asked, both concerned and confused.

"Nya?" he replied. He recognized these two only in bits and pieces. The feeling he got from them was one of familiarity, and so he stood, padded forward, and jumped upon James' shoulder. He purred audibly, rubbing his face into the purple hair.

"M-me-meowth?!" James stuttered, his hands coming up in an awkward shrug in an effort to find purpose.

"Nyaaaaa!" the pokemon called happily, closing his eyes to bury his head deeper in James' soft hair. He didn't remember this luxurious hair, but he could definitely get used to it.

Jesse and James exchanged a look.

This wasn't good.

* * *

**a/n: Not the most fun I ever had writing a chapter... =_=; Hope you guys liked it. (I like the ending part)**


	11. Tickle Fights and Kit's Tales

Metronome - Chapter 11**  
**

They had practically reached the edge of the forest, but it was just too dark to continue safely. They were all exhausted, and they had no way to defend themselves if they should happen to run into anything. It agitated the two to no end, but it was necessary they stop for the night.

Nokomis had somehow slept the whole trip, and even when they slid her into Ash's sleeping bag, she didn't stir. Ash was actually a bit relieved. He had thought earlier that Nokomis was seriously hurt, but apparently she just slept like a rock when she was truly tired. That was all well and good in his opinion; at this rate, she wouldn't be up and hungry until they got to Pewter tomorrow, and with their food supply practically depleted, Ash hoped for her sake that's what happened.

Nevertheless, when he and Nikola set about divvying up the two remaining sandwiches, he'd set the last one to the side for if and when Nokomis did finally wake up, and tore a piece off the other before handing it to Nikola. He could live a day without food. He'd done it a few times before on the road after they'd left Brock, seeing as he wasn't very good at planning meals in advanced. Nikola gave him a look, but didn't argue as she tore into the sandwich. They were huddled around a small fire Ash had managed to build. He'd found that fire scared away more of the pokemon in the forests, or at least kept them far enough away to avoid confrontation. Besides that, it was rather chilly out – more so than usual—and with the sleeping bag taken by Nokomis, there wasn't much to keep the two warm.

"Well, I know one thing that could keep us warm," Ash thought, sneaking a peek at the blond across the fire. She looked gorgeously tan with the orange glow of the flames on her face and arms, and her breasts bounced in rhythm with her enthusiastic chewing rather suggestively beneath the dark fabric of his t-shirt…

Immediately Ash felt guilty. Nikola didn't think of him that way – she was his friend, and a pokemon at that!

"But she's not a pokemon now," he mentally argued with himself, "and what about the other day? She kissed you didn't she?"

Ash shook his head hard, trying to clear the confusion away. Arguing with himself was pointless-- Nikola was Nikola, his friend, human or pokemon, and their mission at the moment was finding Nokomis' parents.

"None of that involves having…" he stole another glance at Nikola, who was meticulously sucking the last of the peanut butter from each of her slim fingers, one-by-one, "…relations."

This prompted another vigorous shake of the head from Ash, and when he opened his eyes, he found Nikola staring at him, the peanut butter all gone.

"Is everything okay?" she practically whispered. Ash saw a shiver go through her, and wondered how cold she was in that t-shirt. If only he had more than one jacket. He only had one and he was wea-

What an idiot he was! He quickly stripped off his jacket, standing and shuffling around the fire to Nikola. The night air hit his arms with a brisk whip of coolness, and he cursed himself for not realizing this sooner. What a fool he was! No wonder Misty hadn't ever wanted to go out with him; not that he'd asked… but still, not even a sign from her.

He wrapped the coat around Nikola's shoulders, and plopped down next to her. It was one motion altogether, but it seemed Nikola that it took quite a long time. Nikola felt a tingling sensation at the top of her head, and it reminded her vaguely of the other day when they'd first entered the woods together. She smiled, and brought her knees up to her chest.

"Everything's fine," she heard Ash say next to her, "except for the fact that I'm an idiot. I should have known you were cold. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," she mumbled into her knees, not wanting to look him in the eyes for some reason she couldn't quite understand, "I was fine. Now you'll be cold. Take your coat back."

But no, she didn't really want him to take it back. Not only was the combined heat of the coat and her now-blushing body shooing away the cool air of the night, but the smell of him surrounding her within the fabric of the thin jacket was exhilarating. There was nothing in the world that would change her feelings on this matter, except for Ash's own admission of wanting the jacket back, and so Nikola didn't argue when she heard him reply.

"I want you to wear it. I'll survive, trust me."

She just stayed quiet. They sat that way for a while, watching their breath fan out in front of them and merge effortlessly into the smoke and heat of the fire. It was a comfortable silence. When two bodies had been together as long as they'd been, silence became almost as natural and meaningful as conversation. They both heaved a large sigh, happy to be off their feet.

After a bit, Ash felt himself unconsciously inching closer to the heat. He stretched out his legs, eager to get his feet as near as possible to the warmth of the fire. With this motion, his arms spread out and rose above him, reaching upwards to grab the stars. His eyes closed in this relaxed moment, and it wasn't until he'd begun lowering his bare arms he realized that Nikola had scooted up and into his body. Her head nestled under his chin. He brought his hand around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. His chin rested atop her head.

"Ash," Nikola said quietly, "We're going to find Nokomis' father right?"

"Mmm-hmm," he hummed reassuringly.

"I just feel so close to her," Nikola mumbled, "Like I've known her since she was born."

Above Nikola, Ash's eyes widened a tad. He'd felt the same exact way—like everything revolved around Nokomis and her happiness. He realized only now that he'd felt miserable until Nokomis had acknowledge him as a comrade earlier, and that he hadn't felt right about leaving the young girl until he'd been sure she was comfortable and warm in his sleeping bag, and how he'd saved the last sandwich for her, even with his own stomach howling at the moon like a lonely houndoom. He had felt like she was something small and frail he needed to protect; almost like she was her little sister.

A shiver passed through him, and for the first time that night, it wasn't because of the cold. Nikola shifted beneath his arm, so Ash moved it. She pulled back, daring to look in his eyes now, even if the feeling in her mind discouraged it viciously for some unknown reason.

"Hmmm?" Ash said nonchalantly, his heart began to race, "What's up Nikola?"

"You're cold," she said, a pout appearing on her cute little lips, "you need your jacket."

Ash shook his head, his eyes remaining on her slender face.

"You're fibbing," she countered, "Don't lie to me-- I've known you long enough to know when you're fibbing."

She spread her arms, opening the jacket wide, and pressed herself against his arm. Ash cringed as he felt the soft, warm flesh of Nikola's breasts press against him. Her arms encircled him as best they could, and clamped down, covering half the boy and managing to press Nikola even tighter to his body.

"Nikola, I-"

"No!" she huffed into his shoulder, "I'm not letting go until you admit it!"

"But-"

"No buts!"

Ash sighed. The situation was getting dire. He needed to use a secret attack.

"I wonder," he thought slyly, his free hand moving around towards Nikola's back, "if she's still ticklish there…"

His hand reached the middle of her back and began scratching, and a sudden yelp answered his question. He laughed, feeling Nikola's grip loosen as she giggled manically into his shoulder. She wiggled and squirmed, but the tickling became too much, and all at once Ash felt a nip on his shoulder. It wasn't hard, but it surprised him, and he tumbled to the side, out of Nikola's grip.

Nikola rolled back at this release, still giggling foolishly, and pulling the coat around her. She landed on her back and let the laughing take its toll while she looked up at the sky. The clouds shifted gracefully, and the stars peeked out behind them, shy all of a sudden now that they knew someone was looking. Ash fell back and on his side. The same view of the stars greeted him from above. He smiled, truly happy for the first time all day.

It was only a moment before Nikola's playful and happy face slid slowly into view, blotting out the stars; that was okay with Ash though. Her eyes and body were much more interesting then the stars at the moment.

She was leaning over him, and with one somewhat graceful movement, she threw her leg over Ash's body and straddled him. It was meant to be a playful movement—pikachu tended to assume this position for play-sparring when truly excited, and Nikola was most definitely excited right now—but it turned into something bigger the moment she did it. Ash felt her legs against the sides of his thighs, her hair tickling his face, her stubborn, gorgeous blue eyes looking into his with the playfulness of the pikachu he'd known for so long. He grinned in what Nikola was surprised to find was a rather bashful manner. His arms splayed out on either side of him, unsure what to do and therefore useless.

Nikola was coursing with energy at the moment. When she was small, the best she could do about the damn tickling was bolt away or submit to the giggles. Now she had Ash pinned—time for revenge.

"So Ash," she growled, "Are _you_ ticklish? Let's find out!"

She let her weight back onto her knees and brought her hands to his side, wiggling her fingers all the while. He jerked at the sensation, almost knocking Nikola over, but she stayed upright and kept right on tickling the boy.

"N-n-nikola! Puh-puh-" Ash pleaded, but he couldn't get the words out, as they were now distorted by uncontrollable laughter. His eyes were clamped shut, and tears streamed out. Nikola was enjoying this thoroughly. She didn't notice Ash's hands coming up to wrap around her wrists until a second too late.

He pulled her arms outward, and she found herself losing balance almost instantly and falling forwards into Ash's chest. She squirmed, but he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her to him in an irritatingly pleasurable fashion.

"Nuh-uh," Ash gasped, short on breath, but still laughing, "I'm not letting you go until you calm down a bit."

Nikola squirmed some more but finally lay still, feeling the energetic excitement slowly fading. Her breathing slowed down, and she brought her arms in under the jacket, pulling Ash's hands along with them to rest under her breasts. When she was finally settled down, she risked a glance at Ash. He was looking down at her, his breath for the most part back in him.

"I'm not ticklish," he grinned.

Nikola frowned at him, so he let go of her wrists, and brought his hands back to lay behind his head.

"Okay, maybe just a little," he confessed, looking back up at the sky.

Nikola stared at him, and suddenly she felt the tingling sensation creeping over the back of her neck and taking its customary spot at the top of her head. She tucked her face into her hands, surprising herself as the scent of Ash's being enveloped her one again. She sniffed a little, and shifted her nose this way and that against his chest to bring forth more of the scent. It was very strong, and Nikola felt the tingling sensation spreading—something it hadn't consciously done before now.

"Hey," Ash laughed quietly, "I thought the tickle fight was over. C'mon Nikola, what's up with you?"

But Nikola wasn't listening. The smell was overtaking her mind right now. It reminded her of so many things. Of hot summer nights, licking the sweat from Ash's neck; of cool fall mornings when she'd sit grooming herself near his sleeping bag as she watched the sunrise, waiting for him to wake up; of winter days in which the only way to while away the gloomy sit-ins at the centers during snowstorms was to have tickle-wars and play card games—it was all so overwhelming. She grabbed at him, tugging at his shirt, hoping to pull him closer.

"Hey, Nik-"

His words were cut short by two perfect lips pressed against his own.

"Mmmmm-pfh!" he cried, thoroughly shocked. His arms wrapped around Nikola, pulling her into him as he sat up, before pushing her back. He immediately regretted it.

"Kaaaa," Nikola breathed, falling back. Her eyes were shut, but now they opened slowly, worried about what expression she'd find on Ash's face.

The blur of his head came into focus. His hat was knocked askew, reminding her of an almost identical situation that had occurred not two full days before, back when she'd still been a pokemon. The look on his face was rather blank. He wasn't angry, that was good. He didn't look too happy either-- just extremely confused.

"N-n-nikola. Did you just…" Ash's breathing was speeding up, "Did you just _kiss me_?"

Nikola didn't quite know how to respond to this. Was he asking a serious question? Of course she'd just kissed him-- and she was already starting to regret it. She wasn't sure what had come over her, but what she did know was that right now the tingling sensation had spread to her entire body, and for the first time since it had arrived, she felt a sort of peace and acceptance of it.

"Sorry?" she offered halfheartedly.

Sorry? This gorgeous girl had just kissed him, and all she had to say was 'sorry'?! Ash was feeling faint. Nothing was making sense.

"Ash?" Nikola questioned, but he didn't seem to hear her, as he was now on the verge of hyperventilating in front of her, so she quickly leaned forward and kissed him again. This one managed to surprise Ash even more so than the first. He pushed her back once again, once again regretting his decision.

"Why do you keep doing that?!" he practically shouted at her. She flinched, and Ash felt his heart skip a beat. "Look," he continued, a bit calmer now, "you can't just kiss people. It's just weird…"

"Why?" she demanded, and Ash was taken aback by her tone of voice, "Why can't I kiss you?"

"B-b-becau-"

"All this time," she interrupted him, obviously not caring what his reply may be, "I've been in love with you for so long, and I finally get my one true wish and you… you…"

Her blue eyes overflowed as her cheeks sparked noticeably into the night. Ash was rather confused right now. Things were taking a turn for the worse rather quickly.

"You _love_ me?!" he sputtered.

"Y-y-yes," Nikola stuttered through her tears. Her hands were rubbing at her eyes now, trying in vain to stop the tears, and instead rubbing her cornflower hair into her crimson cheeks. Ash had never seen anything so sad and beautiful at once. "Of c-c-course I love you! Where would I be without you?"

"But Nikola," he countered, incredulous, "Nikola, you're my friend, and my pokem-"

"Don't say it!" she hissed, her hands flying down, leaving her eyes free to glare at him with a new passion, her hair flew about her face in an eerie way, moved by a seemingly invisible force, "I know! I know! Don't think your mother didn't tell me plenty of times. I'm a _pokemon. _I'm a moronic, uncivilized, _useless_ pokemon. I was a useless princess, a useless girl, and now I'm a useless pokemon—_especially_ now." The last sentence was said with such spite and disdain, Ash felt his skin crawl.

Instantly Nikola's eyes softened, her hair fell down gently into place, "But you never saw me that way, did you?"

Ash shook his head, slowly. He'd never thought of her that way, and from this point on would make a point of never _ever _doing so.

"And that," she finished quietly, "along with a million other reasons, is why I love you."

They sat there for a moment. Ash was dumbfounded, and Nikola felt herself joining him as what she had just screamed into the forest registered in her mind.

Ash was starting to notice the cold seeping through his (lack of) thoughts, when all at once Nikola tried to stand. Tried, but failed, as her legs were terribly cramped, and walking all day, coupled with the tickle fight, had all but drained the last of her energy. God only knew how much of her energy this emotional strain in and of itself was zapping. She fell forward with a moan that resembled a sigh, and Ash caught her. Her head fell onto his shoulder. He cringed at the pain in his arm, but didn't move as she began sobbing into his shirt. Instead, he hugged her tighter, and she obliged by drawing herself up closer to him willingly.

He gave her a few minutes to cry. They were racking sobs—she'd just told him something she'd been waiting years to share; something that had stayed in the back of her mind the entire two weeks at his mother's home, even when all other thoughts had fallen away; something she'd never imagined she'd ever be able to relay to him in a way he'd understand or reciprocate. And now she was sure he thought her a fool. Indeed, she felt _herself_ a fool; it was foolish to think that simply having had her body changed would make Ash feel like her the way she felt about him.

Ash, meanwhile, was starting to feel like the biggest jerk in the world. This was the second time in one day he'd made Nikola cry. Starting out this journey, he'd been excited about the lack of emotional input he'd have to provide—at least until they reached Misty. Now, it was becoming rather clear that he was going to have to swallow his pride, and start expressing himself, or else Nikola was going to start automatically assuming the worse. He wasn't quite sure what he should say to Nikola, so whilst she was crying, he took a moment to consider the situation.

Ash had always interacted with Nikola as a human would with a pikachu. Even today, he'd been going off what he knew of her from that form, and not how he would have reacted with another human. Had Misty tried to sit in his lap, or licked the tears from his face, or any of a dozen other, subtle things that Nikola had done since she'd first changed, Ash would have blushed to death and run off to hide in the woods. Up until this point, his interactions with humans of the female variety had been minimal, and most were fleeting. Nikola was female, but had always been a pokemon, and Ash had never even considered the idea of becoming romantically involved with her, not even after the kiss the day before, but now… it seemed he had a decision to make.

Pikachu had always been a very close friend of his. In fact, Ash felt it was safe to say Pikachu _was_ most definitely his closest friend ever-- but that was the problem. This wasn't Pikachu he was dealing with anymore, this was Nikola. Nikola was beautiful and naïve and, from the looks of it, completely and utterly in love with him—all traits he'd never associated with Pikachu, even if the latter had been true all along. But now Nikola was so beautiful, and so in love with him, and for the first time Ash began to realize the little things she'd always done to show her affinity for him. She'd always been with him, she'd always made an effort to show she understood him, she'd always tried to comfort and please him whenever times were hard, and even when times were good. For the first time, Ash realized how far back Nikola's love for him truly did stretch, and it astonished him in a way that left him breathless.

Ash's hands began to rub Nikola's back gently, urging her to stop her crying, telling her that he was here and he would make sure she was okay, and indeed Ash's mind was now focused on doing nothing but atoning for the wrongs he had, up until this very moment, unknowingly committed.

"I told you I was an idiot, didn't I?" he mumbled into her hair. She shook her head, not wanting to believe what she was hearing—knowing it was too good to be true that he hadn't already pushed her away and run off, but Ash went on, "I am sorry. You have always been a close friend, but I don't… I don't know how I didn't realize how much you really meant to me, until now."

His breathing hitched, and Nikola stiffened in his arms. She wanted to pull back and look at him, but every fiber of her being was holding her back. The sensation was still there, tingling along the back of her neck and up to the top of her head. The tears stopped, and she sniffed a few times, but she stayed stiff in his arms until he spoke.

"I know you might not believe me," he hummed into her hair, "but I love you too."

And then Nikola did pull back, and what she saw made her feel like it was all worth it—all of it. From the moment she'd met him, to when she'd first fallen in love with him, to now, every moment, every single moment she'd spent pinning away for the boy who couldn't understand a single thing she said, was now worth it. He was smiling, and it was that same smile that had sent chills up her catlike spine so many times before. His eyes were jumping at her, like candle flame caught in a breeze, and they flickered mightily in the campfire light, welcoming her into his soul, into his being, and ultimately into his love.

The sensation exploded forth from the back of Nikola's head, surrounding her, pulsating with her heartbeat. She heard Ash gasp and saw his eyes change to those of surprise. His hair stood up beneath his hat, drifting about. Around them, a glow sprang up, separate from the light of the campfire, and it cast yellow into the trees and against their faces. Ash felt the sensation travel up his arms and center on his heart, encircling and warming it, making it beat faster than it ever had before. Nikola's lips parted, letting out a breath of confusion, and Ash couldn't help himself—the feeling was too strong. He leaned forward, and covered her lips with his own, shutting his eyes on impact.

Nikola's eyes fluttered shut, the eyelashes tickling Ash's own face. She pressed against him, bringing her arms up and around his neck, to dig her fingers into the soft blackness of his hair. She had waited so long, and even so, she'd never imagined it would feel quite this good. Around their lips, a tickling grew, crawling around and around their mouths before diving off their chins. Ash was moving his lips, but he was untrained, and though it felt good, he knew it wasn't the best kiss ever. Nikola didn't seem to mind though; she moved with him, matching his movements. In the end, the kiss was rather sloppy, but when the two pulled apart, they were grinning.

"What is this?" Ash mumbled, not taking his eyes from Nikola's. She registered slowly that he was referring to the static that now played around them, jumping away in the grass in tiny leaps. She simply shook her head. She didn't know, and right now she didn't care.

The position they were in, they realized after a few short moments of staring into each other's eyes, was a bit uncomfortable, especially for Ash. Nikola wiggled off him, and he splayed out in the grass with his hands behind his head, no longer cold. She snuggled into his side, nuzzling against him before bringing his face up next to his, resting it on his shoulder. She licked his cheek once before going in for another kiss, bringing her hand up to turn his face towards hers. It was short, but when she broke away Ash felt the world spinning around them. She lay her head back down on his shoulder, smiling contently. Her body was turned towards Ash—curled up against him—and her breasts and forearms pressed against his side. He brought his arm down to wrap around Nikola, kissing the top of her head gently.

The comfortable silence came in again, and Nikola was beginning to involuntarily doze off when she heard Ash ask her a question in a sleepy voice.

"Nikola?"

"Hmmm?" she asked cautiously.

"What was it you wanted to tell me when Nokomis told you her name? I know there was something, I could tell by the way you looked at me."

She opened her eyes to see his profile, staring up at the moon with closed eyes. He was smiling, breathing slowly as he drifted off.

"It's just a silly legend we used to tell the kits," she answered in a quiet, nonchalant voice, "Having to do with the Daughter of the Moon. It was one of my favorites to tell the little ones…"

She trailed off, yawning. It'd been a rather long day, and she was beat.

"Can you tell it to me please?"

She was going to say no, that she was tired and wanted to sleep, but he turned his face and opened his eyes and looked at her with such a look that she could not say no. Instead, she pouted a little. He grinned, then tilted his head forward and kissed her pouting lips, lingering for a teasingly short moment before pulling away.

"Pleeeease?" he asked again, blushing.

Nikola yawned again, pretending to be tired as she composed herself.

"Okay, fine."

Ash turned his head back to look up at the sky, shutting his eyes and letting a content look wash over his face. She felt his arm tighten around her. She cleared her throat, got comfortable after some shifting around, closed her eyes, and began.

"Legend tells that there are other worlds besides our own. Arceus put pokemon on-"

"Who's Arceus?" Ash interrupted.

"Arceus is a god. No one knows what he really looks like, but it's said he has created all there is, and all there ever shall be. Now hush, I'm trying to remember this. It's been a long time since I last told it."

And Nikola realized with a twang of guilt that'd it had been a considerably long time since she'd last told this story to any of the kits. They were probably all grown by now.

Ash simply gave a sideways grin, letting her continue.

"Anyway, Arceus put pokemon on other worlds besides our own. The cleffa are born on the moon, but for some reason not entirely known, some choose to come here to Earth, and evolve in clefairy and cleffable. On Mars and Jupiter, there are other pokemon who choose not to come here, and the same is true for any other planet or star you see, for the wise Arceus would not waste the energy and resources to make those places, had he not a plan for their purpose."

Nikola paused, preparing for the next part of her tale.

"Legend says that one day in the future, some planets will be endangered by other planets who wish to take control, and that order will be destroyed among the stars. When that happens, it will be up to a golden, outcast warrior to lead the Daughter of the Moon. They will take odd forms, twisting into something new by events they were not expecting, and ultimately the fate of the universe will lie in their hands."

Ash shifted, mumbling the question that all the kits had always asked Nikola at this point in the story, "And what happens to them? Do they win?"

"If the golden warrior succeeds in bringing the planets together, the Daughter of the Moon will take on an altogether new form, and vanquish the evil powers at work. But there was never really an ending, it was just a silly legend—see? Something I'd tell the kits to calm them down. It doesn't have any purpose…"

She trailed off again, realizing Ash was lightly snoring, and completely oblivious to her ramblings on absurdities within legends. She sighed, and then smiled, leaning forward and licking him on the cheek once more. The jacket lay beside her, and she picked it up gently, throwing it over the both of them and snuggling deeper into Ash's scent.

As she drifted off, a faint glow emanated from the pair, prompting a grumpy bunch of pidgey and pidgeot to shift further into their trees.

* * *

**a/n: Hey there. Once again, I prove I'm not dead. :3 This was fluffy, but not lemony. That will be later guys-- I'm not Nora Roberts dammit. My stories _do_ have plot, lol, if not pounds upon pounds of fluff. ;**


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